Just had to rant a little.... I have an Echo PB 251 leaf blower, bought new 2 years ago. I went to start it up yesterday and it won't start. When I pull the cord, it's hard to pull and makes a weird clanking noise. I pull it a second time, and it gets stuck and won't turn over at all. I took the starter assembly off and there is nothing wrong with it. I can turn the engine over slowly by hand too. So I reintsall the starter and I still have the same problem. If I take the spark plug off, it cranks over perfectly. As soon as I put the plug back in....clank, clank, clank.
I'm thinking it's an internal engine problem. I would tear it down for a full investigation and fix it myself, but since it's still under warranty and I'm way too busy, I'm taking it to the dealer and letting them deal with it. It's kind of disappointing that I bought a quality machine (and sworn off Craftsman machines forever) so I wouldn't have to do deal with this stuff anymore and this still happened.