# Question on a Snowblower



## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Hey guys...I had my snowblower working a couple weeks ago. Last night I went and put "FRESH" fuel mix in and when I went out to use it last night. I Primed it, Choked it, got a single fire out of it and now even with the electric starter it won't even fire. 

There was a guy with another snowblower walking down the street and he couldn't figure it out either.

What do you guys think may be the problem(s) with it. Any help would be appreciated. I don't wanna have to drag it to a shop!


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

mine did the same thing 2 days ago. I had done half the driveway and it just died. I had put in fresh gas a few days ago. The tank was half empty so I filled it all the way up again It started up then sputtered out. I got it running at half throttle as it would die at full throttle. It was running at full throttle again when I finished the driveway.

My guess, junk in the bowl.


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## hedhunter9 (Nov 15, 2008)

Water in carb or dirt .

The wifes snowblower did that last week.
Fixed it in a couple minutes


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## chcav1218 (Jul 31, 2008)

yeh i would say its a water issue


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

hedhunter9;717112 said:


> Water in carb or dirt .
> 
> The wifes snowblower did that last week.
> Fixed it in a couple minutes


How? I'm going to dumb all the fuel out of it, Put some new stuff in (AGAIN) and maybe put alittle fuel line antifreeze in it. (dry gas)

What do you think would that help?

I've even taken the plug out and it's clean as a whistle. I know when I'm using the electric starter on it that I get some oil drips from the exhaust. Guess it's better than flames huh? :yow!:


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## chcav1218 (Jul 31, 2008)

you could try some of the stuff they sell to dump in the tank of your car. its supposed to take care of water issues. but u might have to flush the system out


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## just plow it (Feb 28, 2008)

Do you have spark on the spark plug? It might be your coil or brainbox, I think that's what they call it. Good luck.


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Yeah the sparks good, I'm going to try dumping some dry gas in it and if that don't work dump the whole thing and put some new stuff in. One of my neighbors has kinda the same thing going. He put the dry gas in and it worked. Fuel line Freeze Up. I have a feeling that's what it is but only time will tell. His is an industrial big sucker 2 stage self propelled and he used it this week. He had his in his trailer (enclosed) and his was dead like mine and he actually dropped the dry gas in, moved it into his heated garage and 2 hours later it fired right up.


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## Dustball (Dec 5, 2008)

I had a small engine where the compression release on the cam broke and allowed too much compression to build up.


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Dustball;718204 said:


> I had a small engine where the compression release on the cam broke and allowed too much compression to build up.


Nope...I can say for sure it's not the compression. I have normal pull on the rope and also the starter turns w/o a problem just doesn't fire. I'm still look'n at fuel line freeze-up. The cheaper the better for me. So much for me making some extra bucks this weekend.

Talked to the dealer I got it from and all of their small engines and even their salt and salt spreaders are freezing. They gave me information on a dry-gas for 2-cycle engines which is called C-Foam. Well time to give the local auto parts store to get one lined up.


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## hedhunter9 (Nov 15, 2008)

Ya have to be carefull adding heet to the gas in 2 cycle engines.
Just a cap full will do. 
And I always pull the float bowl loose and make sure no water/dirt in there.
Gas cans are notorious for getting water and dirt in them......
Water settles to the bottom. Drain the bowl....

(im in the business of fixing small engines too)


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## scooled101 (Nov 19, 2008)

hedhunter9;719604 said:


> Ya have to be carefull adding heet to the gas in 2 cycle engines.
> Just a cap full will do.
> And I always pull the float bowl loose and make sure no water/dirt in there.
> Gas cans are notorious for getting water and dirt in them......
> ...


i couldn't have said it better myself. I too am in the small engine buisness


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

I tried...for bowl issue, see post #2
And if you're telling someone to pull the bowl, shouldn't you also tell them to turn off the gas,
or catch it? shame on you mechanics...J/K!

But mine started today and I knocked out 1/10th " of fluff on the driveway to check it. Sure 'nuff it was water in the gas. I added polor water remover, {1/4 of the bottle} and it runs better than last time...LOL


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Well...It's been 2 days since I posted that it was warm enough to try to start this blasted thing. NOTHING. I'm off tomorrow so I'm going to dump the tank open the line from the tank to the carb and put in a new plug (if I can get to the bloody thing again!)...

If that don't work I'm going to take it to the dealer that I got it from and they told me yesterday that if I supplied the parts that they would get the thing running one way or another. They said if all the work that I put into it and it still don't work it's probably going to need a carb rebuild. I hate when that happens! :crying:


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

If you can get the bowl off spray inside the ports <tiny holes> with carb cleaner using the straw and get in there good. Clean the bowl good too. And don't loose the gasket or O ring. Is the plug fowled, wet or dry? If it's been runin good it should be dry and brown. 
If it won't start, check the plug to see if it's wet.

Mine was a pain to get going today but after half choke and half throttle it was slow to pick the gas up with the water remover...then it ran normal. your mileage may vary.


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Well.. Looks like I'm going to have it worked on. Going to take it in tomorrow afternoon...What joy...NOT! Here's a picture of what I'm working with. I've got this Darn cover over the engine and it's a bear to open up to get anywhere to check things out. I did manage to get to the spark plug today. It was wet and when I hit the electric starter it did have a spark. (kinda difficult to pull start it by yourself and check for the spark. I'm personally thinking it's the carb that's messed up. It doesn't have a throttle just choke, prime, starter both electric and pull.

If there is someone in the Dayton Ohio area on here that works on the engines and can have a decent turn around time I'll give you my business otherwise I'm going to have to stick with the big boys!

This snowblower is an Ariens 772EC. You can see on the top opposite the fuel tank cap a black plug on top.. that my access point for the spark plug and it's a B**** to remove without breaking it. :realmad:


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## hedhunter9 (Nov 15, 2008)

On most of them, you have to pull the plastic covers to do any work...


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

X-2 on the cover, I just remove a couple screws and viola---a motor magically appears

try craigslist for a backup until the airens gets fixed.
good luck


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

I've got the good ol' fashioned shovel... abit of Calcium Chloride and plenty of clothing. Luckly it's only about 15 foot to my street and car!

Hey guys wanna thank you for all the help. I'm not very mechanically inclined and have very little amount in tools and no place warm to work on the thing. If I was still in the fire service I'd take it to the station and work on it but since I retired...Well lets just say the boss is a joke and won't help anyone that don't kiss up to him any help.

Again thanks... :salute:


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

well sir if you were in my neighborhood I would be more than happy
to help you out.

Lord knows I have to ask for help on more than my share of problems.

If you have a screwdriver and a small socket set you can get pretty far into this repair.
Sometimes removing the float bowl and using compressed air may get the junk out of the jets , sometimes spraying the jets with carb cleaner works, and other times in extreme cases removing the carb and soaking in carb cleaner works.

But I do understand your situation. If you have a good shop near you<one that cares about the customer> they may be able to answer the questions and help you DIY.


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## scooled101 (Nov 19, 2008)

when i am lazy i just loosen the bowl a little bit let what is in there drain out and try it again its a 50/50 chance this will fix the problem. as stated above if i was near you I would help out no questions asked. Good luck with the shovel I still use mine haha


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Well I'm kinda Lazy...I admit but I also take care of 2 disabled people here in my house for nothing. Just not that much time to tinker. I've got an old ONAN Generator that I have to put a few things to make it usable and just to lazy to get the thing working.

I went to a pawn shop today...They had a Crapsman 2 stage - 4 cycle tachomsa (sp) snowblower. Everything was right out in the open. Would have been great on the heavy days but they had it prices WAY WAY to high... Used $850 and it didn't have a key! I tried to get him to knock the price down and the *$$ wouldn't do it! Oh well Atleast I looked at it! LOL Probably going to just try once again on mine and see what sparks can be made!


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## tc21 (Feb 24, 2007)

If you use Isoheat for an antifreeze gas additive Ibeleive it will work with 2 cycle engines. There is probably a frozen chunk of ice in side the carb thats to blame. When you get it back make shure to use the additive in the gas can and run the old gas out of the unit.


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Ok..Just thought I'd drop a line in with an update. I should have taken the thing to the shop when I first got the problem. I'm 1 week out of Warrentee. Isn't that a Psr! Anyhow FYI that I found out through Ariens and also the shop... Techumsa (sp) has gone bust. They're only doing some warrented work and that takes forever to get lined up for them to pay. 

The place I took my snowblower had a turn around of less than 24 hours. I got it in before this storm we're supposed to have. The place I bought it from has a 6 day wait just for them to open it up. Go figure they're about a mile away from each other.


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## Pirsch (Jun 1, 2007)

Final outcome..Just in time for the 9+ inches of snow to come today and tonight....

Took less than 24 hours to get the snowblower out of the shop. New plug, New Fuel Line, Cleaned out Carb. $76 and change.

They said that the fuel that's been being sold in the past year just didn't mix well with the 50:1 mixes and it carmalized everything. They were surprised that I actually had it running.

Before I left there was a line of trucks and cars in the out to the street all with snowblowers that were dead. The service guy said before I left that he's backed up over a week as of now. 

I'm so glad that I got mine in and out so fast. Now I can actually make some of the GREEN since there's no kids to undercut! LOL payup


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## unit28 (Jan 1, 2007)

LOL...
good luck sir


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