After Andy’s futile round trips to Albuquerque to get the high-altitude jet installed, I wrote to Makita yesterday afternoon:
Our brush cutter came with this warning:
[Copy of their warning]
We drove the 200-mile round trip to the closest service center in Albuquerque, but now that center says they contacted the carburetor manufacturer who said there is no high-altitude jet for this model.
It is now too late to return the product to Amazon because we believed your piece of paper about the high-altitude jet. Is the service center wrong? Can we use it at about 9000 feet? Will your warranty still be valid? Do you support this product that we bought in good faith? Please help.
I didn’t expect an answer, but I figured it’s a good idea to give feedback in a case like this.
Instead Makita responded:
Jean,
You’ll need a Walbro #32 long jet. We do not have it in inventory, but it can be purchased from Walbro directly. See attached file.
Makita Support Team
Makita U.S.A., Inc.
Phone: 1-800-462-5482
www.makitatools.com
Click on picture for higher resolution.
The fellow wrote again later to say it will not damage the carburetor to run it at high altitudes. Andy also wrote to say he ran it but “it needs fixing.”
In the meantime I went the the Walbro (maker of the carburetor) site to get more information about the part. The site didn’t give a way to contact them but listed their distributors, so I phoned the closest one, in Dallas, Texas. I gave her the model number of the carburetor and what Makita said about the jets, but there is no part number for it. Tory, the gal I talked to, is contacting the factory service center for more information…she hopes to get back to me early next week. There is no great rush because the fellow at the service center in Albuquerque was going on vacation for a couple of weeks starting today.
If we could get the part ourselves and make an appointment to get it installed it would be nice to get the jet installed and do it with only one more trip for Andy.
Anyway, it’s a new adventure.
June 26,2020
it certainly is a new adventure. I wish you well in it.
at least you got a timely response. that I guess is a reasonable start.
Getting information today went a lot better than I expected. It’s encouraging.
I am so glad they responded…now if you can just find the part they say will work and hope it does work.
There’s a god chance Andy can use it without the part, it just won’t run as well. At least we can see if it’s too heavy for him.
I love your attitude about how to sort out an issue….you and Andy are a great team. Let’s see if Tory and cohorts can get this all sorted out…
I’m working on fixing the internal workings of my pad, now I’ve decided that I should invest in a dehumidifier which will help with some issues within it. Issues that wouldn’t be in a newly built house but one this old (late 1960s) doesn’t have the best structural material…
the new regulations that came into force last year, but were already sorted here, only offer some resolution … so it means that human must endeavour to sort some things out themselves. This region specialises in dampness and mould caused by the humidity… and although this pad is way better than Delta Ave house it still has issues.
Lots of options are given that fit into natural ways but who wants me to have all windows/doors open 24/7 – frozen not a great look…yes I do open windows daily but that’s not 24/7!
I enjoy challenges like this. We’re relaxed about it because it has nothing to do with our health.
More persistence – guess it runs in the family:) We sure hope you can get that part AND get it installed.
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber
Thanks. At this point it’s a fun project.
What a saga! I hope you get the answers you need, not to mention the part.
Thanks. 🙂
You certainly have a good attitude about the whole thing, Jean. I’d probably have thrown the thing over the edge of a cliff & gotten a goat, to “weed eat”. *ha-ha* It’s a shame you can’t let things go au naturel & forget it. Love, Andrea xoxo
I actually thought about getting a goat. But it would probably be a lot more trouble than help. 😀
An adventure for sure. But one you should not need to have. So sorry it did not come all ready to go!
At this point it’s just a fun project.
this gets more interesting by the day.. glad they were quick to answer and I do hope you can find that part….
Thank you.
Well at least you have made some progress. It was nice that they got back to you on your initial inquiry.
Yes, I was impressed. It speaks well for the company.