Makita 5300 petrol blower - bogging down

[TUS373]

Got one of these leaf blowers November 2020 and it worked OK until beginning of 2022. Did not want to rev up, instead it would stall. Bought and fitted a new carb early 2022, ran better, but not as good as new.

Roll on to 2023, same thing. Despite checking plug, fuel filter, and given fresh 95 octane unleaded, it runs badly. Any more throttle than idle and runs unstable. Can just about use it, but can occasionally stall without me touching the throttle.

I know quite a few Pistonheaders have these; was on multiple recommendations that I got one..it was a bit of a bargain new.

Another carb will set me back £55, so getting fed up if I have to buy a new one every year. I stripped down the old carb, cleaned it with carb cleaner, but blower refused to even start.

Its in mint condition and used only moderately but throughout the year. Any ideas on the problem? Anyone else experienced this? From other online reports, it looks inevitable with this machine, but no coherent explanations why.

[TUS373]

Thanks for reply. There is good flow of fuel. As soon as pull fuel line from carb, it squirts petrol out furiously. Mental note to always keep a clamp with me.

I might give E5 a go, but E10 is what I have used previously and it was OK. Spark plug clean and gapped.

I'm sure it's a fuelling problem. Might play with the fuel cap to make sure there is no vacuum in the tank preventing fuel coming through, though as above, as soon as fuel line is pulled, it flows freely.

Lots of problems reported online with this blower but not found any magical solutions.

[TUS373]

Thanks all. I'm confident the replacement carb is genuine Makita. From what I saw, there are no obvious adjustments on the outside of the carb. One screw for idle that adjusts throttle.

Bit reluctant to buy yet another carb. A Chinese copy may actually be better.

[TUS373]

Do you have to put the choke in up position, pull. Then put choke down, pull and it starts? Mine has always only started when following this routine.

[TUS373]

Thank you. That is interesting to hear. I'm tempted to try a new plug and see what happens.

[TUS373]

Ok..so...I fitted a new spark plug today and no difference. Checked fuel filter and it is clean. Even tried running the blower without the filter and without the fuel cap on. No difference. Even with the engine warmed up, it still bogs down and stalls when given any gas

I am running on 95 octane unleaded. Next stage might be to try superplus. Any other ideas before I purchase yet another carburetor for £55?

Love the machine..its great when it worked, but now seems to be the Ranger Rover of the blower world.

[TUS373]

Thanks again all.

I put a little Redex in the fuel at the weekend. Subjective but felt it ran a little happier at slightly higher revs, but still could not take the power up much before stalling.

Bought some '"Mechanic in a Bottle" that gers positive reviews. It's less than £10 so treating it as an experiment. After that, I will drain it and try Superplus. After that, it is either new carb or get electric!

[TUS373]

I've had a good look at the carb as I still possess the one before that presently fitted. There is no adjustment on it that I can see. Took the old one apart, cleaned and reassembled but cannot get new gaskets. They look unserviceable really. Pics of the original..looked very clean inside and out.