# Blower Won't Start



## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Older Ariens ST824 with a Tecumseh motor.. Running super rich so I tore down the carb for a rebuild. now it doesn't want to turn over. I have verified that I have good spark, the plug in good condition and the gap is correct. Compression seems good (measured by feel with the recoil starter), The bowl has gas in it so I think I've got fuel, don't know if its getting into the cylinder for certain, but I think it is. The carb was dry from the rebuild so after I put it all back together I opened the gas line, opened the choke, pushed the throttle up to full, pumped the primer a few times and gave it a few pulls. Nothing, so I plugged in the electric starter...still don't get any fire. 

When I rebuilt the carb I pushed all three adjustment screws in to barely snug and then backed them all out by 1.5 turns (per service manual). I tried manipulating the mix screw (bottom of the bowl) out to see if I got anything out of it...nothing. 

Looking for suggestions before I bother pulling everything apart again. I didn't have any odd leftover parts. 

What am I missing here? I know its something minor.


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## DugHD (Nov 1, 2005)

my first instinct would be that you messed up the carb, seems how it ran before rebuild . YOu say it ran rich , how do you know , was the fumes bad? Spark plug fouling? 
Try giving it a snuff of starting fluid , if it fires up you know your not getting any gas. If it doesnt fire up and your sure you have good spark , do a compression check to make sure it doesnt have a burned valve or stuck valve. 
After you try this post what happens. Good luck, doug


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

I think it was running rich because when I was using it the carb was blowing sparks and was glowing on the inside. I tried to lean it out by turning the mix screw in and the second i put a load on it, it'd stall out.

The starting fluid is a good idea. Any useful substitutes to a can of starting fluid? Teaspoon of gas in the butterly?


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## DugHD (Nov 1, 2005)

IF the carb was blowing sparks and was red hot inside the you have some serious problems. (the motor is junk) Do you mean the exhaust was blowing sparks? 

Yes, try spraying some gas in carb if you dont have starting fluid. Did this make the engine fire?

I think if it ran before you rebuilt the carb we should start there. When you rebuilt the carb did you push the rubber seat(little round white rubber) all the way into the fuel inlet hole ? IF not the float cannot go down low enough to allow gas to fill bowl.
If bowl "is" filling correctly , is the main jet passage clear allowing gas up into the venturi?


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Exhaust blowing sparks, not carb, sorry.

I'll have to recheck the carb and make sure I've reassembled it properly.

I'll try starting it again tomorrow.


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## hydro_37 (Sep 10, 2006)

Pull the plug and put a bit of gas in the cylinder to see if it fires.
You may have a torn fuel pump gasket.


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## sno commander (Oct 16, 2007)

is ths gravity feed or does it have a fuel pump. crank it over for 30 seconds and pull the plug see if its wet. if not take the carb off make sure your float moves and not stuck. then see if the pin is sticking causing no fuel to get into the bowl. there is also a drain on the carb, you can pull that out as well to see if your getting fuel.


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## TGM (Feb 26, 2007)

if it's throwing sparks it's usually a compression issue which in a tecumseh is often a valve issue. i do suspect that you messed something up when reinstalling the carb pieces. like said above, probably the float needle is stuck if there's no fuel at all getting into the engine. also you may have to clean out the fuel system...there's no fuel filters which often leads to reintroducing junk back into a freshly cleaned carb.

also with an adjustable carb that's cleaned properly, adjust the main jet on the bottom of the bowl 1.5 turns out and the side low speed jet 1 turn out. now when you start the machine, have the throttle wide open. adjust the high speed until it smooths out from the lean side (too lean and it'll pop and surge, too rich it will flood out and also have a hard time going from idle to full throttle). then adjust the low speed jet at idle rpm halfways between it stalling when turning the screw in and out. after that you can then adjust the idle screw holding the butterfly open.

i would suspect you have an internal engine problem. i'd like to know what the compression is and then see how much the engine is leaking down. hopefully you can get her fired and do the adjustment above.


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## mayhem (Aug 25, 2006)

Finally got the time to get back to this. Re-reassembled the carb, took it out and it fired right up on the first pull, very happy about that. Still have a couple issues to iron out.

I reset all the adjustment screws to 1.5 turns out from full in. Motor runs strong, but will only stay running on 1/2 choke. If I turn the choke off it stumbles and surges and i can see the governor rod moving back and forth.

Ideas?


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## kashman (Jan 13, 2004)

mayhem;1012350 said:


> Finally got the time to get back to this. Re-reassembled the carb, took it out and it fired right up on the first pull, very happy about that. Still have a couple issues to iron out.
> 
> I reset all the adjustment screws to 1.5 turns out from full in. Motor runs strong, but will only stay running on 1/2 choke. If I turn the choke off it stumbles and surges and i can see the governor rod moving back and forth.
> 
> Ideas?


need more gas


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## TGM (Feb 26, 2007)

yeah, run the throttle to wide open (so long as it's not over revving). you'll probably have to open up the high speed jet on the bottom of the bowl. open it just up until the engine stops surging.

then you can adjust the low speed jet. that is adjusted half ways in between when it stalls while opening and closing the jet.

if you need some more help you can call me tomorrow on the number in www.mistermobilemechanic.com and i can walk you through it.

tom


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