Craftsman snowblower

[Donald]

It's going to snow in Delaware on Monday and my Sears snowblower will not start even using the electric start. It has not snowed here in a couple of year so it may not have been started in 2 maybe 3 years. It had some gas.

The primer bulb does not seem to fill with gas like the small ones on 2 cycle engines. From feel. It sounds like it's just pushing out air.

I drained all the gas via the fuel bowl drain.

My main question is, how do I get the shroud that cover the carb off. They seem to have made it difficult. Removed all the obvious bolts.

Can get starter fluid into the carb.

I got Sunday to fix it.

 

[Foreman04]

Old gas sitting in it for a year or two? Have had success pouring/spraying seafoam into carb and letting it sit an hour. Then starting.

 

[Danno]

When my blower was being cranky, I take the spark plug out, heat it with a blow torch while it's in the socket wrench, reinstall it, prime it many times and crank it.

 

[Donald]

Spark plug looks good and is dry.

 

[Donald]

Old gas sitting in it for a year or two? Have had success pouring/spraying seafoam into carb and letting it sit an hour. Then starting.

If I can get to the carb.

 

[Rand]

Probably clogged carb.
at least remove the bowl float and needle valve and give it a blasting.
of course when you remove the bowl the gas should all drain from the tank so you can refill with fresh later.
You could see if it starts on ether for a few seconds to make sure its the carb.. and not a mouse gnawed wire etc.

 

[Donald]

Probably clogged carb.
at least remove the bowl float and needle valve and give it a blasting.
of course when you remove the bowl the gas should all drain from the tank so you can refill with fresh later.
You could see if it starts on ether for a few seconds to make sure its the carb.. and not a mouse gnawed wire etc.

I have yet to find a way to take the shroud off to get to the carb. I can got to the fuel bowl from the bottom.

Gas is drained.

 

[97prizm]

It's going to snow in Delaware on Monday and my Sears snowblower will not start even using the electric start. It has not snowed here in a couple of year so it may not have been started in 2 maybe 3 years. It had some gas.

The primer bulb does not seem to fill with gas like the small ones on 2 cycle engines. From feel. It sounds like it's just pushing out air.

I drained all the gas via the fuel bowl drain.

My main question is, how do I get the shroud that cover the carb off. They seem to have made it difficult. Removed all the obvious bolts.

Can get starter fluid into the carb.

I got Sunday to fix it.

View attachment 257388

A trick that I learned last year from a neighbor who repairs mowers in his spare time. He told me alot but not all carb jets have a tiny starting jet. He uses a welder tip cleaning tool. I useda tiny paperclip as they can get build up. Gaskets get hard and go bad. Then there's the float bowl which can gunk up and not move freely.

 

[#18FAN]

PSA this is why we prepare them before the season starts.

 

[#18FAN]

Spark plug looks good and is dry.

Dry is no good trickle some fuel down that cylinder and see if you even get it to cough.

 

[Jim Rogers]

It's going to snow in Delaware on Monday and my Sears snowblower will not start even using the electric start. It has not snowed here in a couple of year so it may not have been started in 2 maybe 3 years. It had some gas.

The primer bulb does not seem to fill with gas like the small ones on 2 cycle engines. From feel. It sounds like it's just pushing out air.

I drained all the gas via the fuel bowl drain.

My main question is, how do I get the shroud that cover the carb off. They seem to have made it difficult. Removed all the obvious bolts.

Can get starter fluid into the carb.

I got Sunday to fix it.

I had a Craftsman like that, and it would have the same condition every single time it sat for more than a month. Ran into the same difficulty with disassembly that you did.

However, I was able to figure out a way to fix it without further disassembly, and it worked every single time: after disassembly to the point you have it (i.e., the first cover off), I pulled the gas supply hose off the carb (it's readily visible/accessible) and attached a short piece of tubing to the intake port on the carb.

Then I used an air compressor to push some short bursts of air into that hose. It needs some pressure-- I couldn't do it by blowing into the tube at the highest pressure I could attain by mouth.

But with some compressed air, it would push out whatever the clog was, usually with a "pop" and spurts of gas coming from various sources (seen and unseen).

Would always run fine after that.

After having to do that little trick several times, I took to starting it and letting it run for ~10 min once a month year-round.

If I was good about remembering to do that, there was never a problem. If I forgot or delayed too long and it wouldn't start, I would just the compressed air trick and it always fixed it instantly.

Good luck with it!

 

[Donald]

I had a Craftsman like that, and it would have the same condition every single time it sat for more than a month. Ran into the same difficulty with disassembly that you did.

However, I was able to figure out a way to fix it without further disassembly, and it worked every single time: Aww after disassembly to the point you have it (i.e., the first cover off), I pulled the gas supply hose off the carb (it's readily visible/accessible) and attached a short piece of tubing to the intake port on the carb.

Then I used an air compressor to push some short bursts of air into that hose. It needs some pressure-- I couldn't do it by blowing into the tube at the highest pressure I could attain by mouth.

But with some compressed air, it would push out whatever the clog was, usually with a "pop" and spurts of gas coming from various sources (seen and unseen).

Would always run fine after that.

After having to do that little trick several times, I took to starting it and letting it run for ~10 min once a month year-round.

If I was good about remembering to do that, there was never a problem. If I forgot or delayed too long and it wouldn't start, I would just the compressed air trick and it always fixed it instantly.

Good luck with it!

Ok. Thanks. I can try.

 

[Donald]

PSA this is why we prepare them before the season starts.

I hope for no snow. Snow eats up some of the HOA budget I need to deal with.

 

[#18FAN]

I hope for no snow. Snow eats up some of the HOA budget I need to deal with.

You can hope in one hand and wish in the other but living prepared is a benefit in the long run.
You can at least make sure it starts every year prior to the season it's just what you do or grab a shovel.

 

[spasm3]

I hope for no snow. Snow eats up some of the HOA budget I need to deal with.

If it hasn't snowed in a couple of years, you budget should be ok.

I run my generator with a load every 2 months . I change the fuel out every 6 months using non ethanol, with 500:1 tcw3.

 

[Kestas]

Taking the carburator apart cures many ills. It may need a simple cleaning, or it could have been compromised with phase separation, which corrodes the insides of the carburator. Once open, you'll know.

I'm glad I bought an ultrasonic cleaner. I always clean carburators with it.

 

[tbm5690]

You need to:

1) disconnect the primer hose from the bulb
2) disconnect the leads from the back of the key
3) remove the choke knob (pull straight off)
4) remove the throttle lever cap (pull straight off)

This will allow the shroud to come off pulling towards the rear of the machine. To get the carb off the mounting bolts you may have to loosen a handle bolt or two to flex the handle rearward to allow clearance.

 

[Jim Rogers]

You need to:

1) disconnect the primer hose from the bulb
2) disconnect the leads from the back of the key
3) remove the choke knob (pull straight off)
4) remove the throttle lever cap (pull straight off)

This will allow the shroud to come off pulling towards the rear of the machine. To get the carb off the mounting bolts you may have to loosen a handle bolt or two to flex the handle rearward to allow clearance.

Not gonna argue with a guy from ND when it comes to snowblowers!

 

[Bighorn2500]

Pull the carb and clean it, I have a small set of torch tip files for cleaning gummed up carbs, then run seaform through with non-ethanol gas.

 

[Tkonrr]

I have the same Craftsman snowblower. I just started it a couple of weeks ago for the first time in about 3 years. It started on the third pull with fresh gas. I did store it completely dry, no gas. I had to change the carb when I first bought it used. It took over 2 hours getting the many parts surrounding the carburetor removed and then reinstalling them after installing the new carburetor. Don't trouble yourself unless the current carb is too far gone with corrosion and varnish. It likely can be drained and cleaned in minutes by removing the 10 mm sized bolt on the bottom of the carburetor. Gas will spill out, have a container underneath to catch it. Use a welder nozzle cleaning kit or perhaps a bread tie twist with the plastic removed would even fit in the main jet in the center of the carburetor running upwards (vertically). Clear that tube out, remove all the stale gas, add fresh gas, prime the carburetor with the primer bulb and it should start and run decently.