KC wrote:
I've got an old leaf blower with a fair amount of use on it. It
always started easily until recently, but now will not start without a
squirt of starter fluid. Without the fluid, no amount of pulling the
rope will produce even a cough from it, but with a small squirt of
starter fluid it will start on the first pull and run fine.
What would cause this? My first thought was carb or compression, but
it runs fine once it starts. The fuel is from the same container I
use for my other 2 cycle engines and they all start fine.

KC

It is possible that the seals on the crankcase or the cylinder gaskets
are beginning to fail. A lack of good seal will reduce the vacuum
available to operate the carb. By injecting fuel (starting fluid) you
are manually priming the cylinder. But starting fluid contains no
lubrication, causing accelerated cylinder and ring wear, reducing vacuum
even further. If you must prime the engine with additional (spray) fuel,
use WD-40, as the oil in it will provide SOME lubrication, and it is
very flammable.

The other possibility is the carburetor is dirty and the gaskets are
drying out. Regardless of what some others here have said, dried gaskets
in the carb limit the availability of fuel during all phases of
operation. Proper fuel availability is critical during starting, as the
cold engine requires more fuel to sustain operation. A stiff diaphragm
may move far enough to pump and meter sufficient fuel to run a hot
engine, but not enough to make that cold engine start. And the primers
on most new diaphragm carburetors only "prime" the carburetor itself
with fresh fuel.

Also, the engine may seem to run fine after you get it started, but most
two strokes will run very well even when they are running damagingly
lean. So although it seems to run well, it may be doing even more
damage. If this is a profession grade blower, get it service soon.
Otherwise, dump it and get a new one, as the cost of a good carb repair
will be as much as a new consumer grade blower.