# Simplicity Snow Blower



## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Just got a free Simplicity 2 stage blower. 8hp briggs motor, 24" cutting path, electric start, no light but it looks like the wiring is there to add one.

Got it free from a buddy of mine. He's impatient and when something gives him trouble out of warranty he usually replaces it with a new unit...well he said it gave him trouble recently so he pushed it back under the cover and zipped into town to pick up a new Toro 2 stage. 

He told me it won't start but also admitted that he didn't do much of anything apart from priming, choking and pulling the recoil till his arm hurt.

Could be as simple as a bad plug, dirty carb jet, etc...could be a shot motor. Figured it was worth the effort to play with it and see. Anyone have a Simplicity blower (Simplicity seems to just call it the "Intermediate" line, no idea on an actual model number) like this and have any advice on commo things to check out? 

Thanks.


----------



## sidthss (Oct 23, 2009)

Has it had fresh gas put in it recently?


----------



## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Unknown, but my guess is no. I was planning on draining it and putting fresh gas when I try ti kick it over tomorrow. I don't know when it let him down, probably last winter because his new Toro is no longer shiny new., So my guess is its been sitting for 9-12 months untouched. Its a bit cowebby, but appears in excellent shape physicically...no dents, paint is excellent, even in the chute.


----------



## festerw (Sep 25, 2003)

Shoot some starting fluid into it, if it kicks over fuel is your problem.


----------



## Plowfixguys (Oct 17, 2009)

If it has been sitting that long with fuel in the tank (without stabilizer) its probably gummed up the carb. If you get it started put some Seafoam in the fuel and let it run. I have seen Seafoam do some amazing stuff.


----------



## OH350Crew (Sep 30, 2009)

Plowfixguys;929347 said:


> I have seen Seafoam do some amazing stuff.


I have too


----------



## 97f250Heavyduty (Dec 27, 2009)

Your best bet is to pull the carb off and clean it and blow it out with compressed air. the jets are probably clogged and gummed up


----------



## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Got a few minutes to look it over today. Gas tank half full, so bad gas is nearly certain, though maybe not the original cause. I got it out of the truck and into the basement tonight so I can let it defrost and start disassembling it. The motor is all covered with plastic housings so I can't see the fuel lines or even the spark plug. A few pulls on the recoil and it pulls easy, but not so easy that I think its got no compression. 

Time to tinker later tonight maybe!


----------



## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Pulled the engine cover off last night and got the plug out. It was pretty new, but the electrode was covered with black gritty gunk. It came right off with a brush and the plug looked brand new. Gap was really tight...like .020 so I opened it to .031 and put it back in Shot some gumout into the carb and let it soak in for a bit, reassembled and dumped a few tablespoons of seafoam into the half full fuel tank. 

Took it outside this morning and damn if it didn't kick over on the very first pull. I've been running it at wide open throttle for the past hour and it just ran out of gas this past few minutes, so all the bad gas has been burned up, the seafoam has worked its way through the whole fuel system and its probably good to go now. 

Love it when problems have simple solutions. 

Thanks all.

Now I have to decide which blower I want to keep. I have this 24" 8hp Simplicity and a much older and heavier (it mus be close to 250-300lb) 8hp 24" Ariens ST824. have to run them both side by side and see which one I prefer. Good problem to have.


----------



## 97f250Heavyduty (Dec 27, 2009)

Glad it was a simple fix. Both those snow blowers are good machines


----------

