Craftsman snowblower

[JTK]

I can't tell what engine this snowblower has, but the rubber and plastic quality on Chonda engines is horrible. Sorry if I missed it in this thread, but the primer bulb hose is probably dried out, cracked and split open. Very common on these. I keep an assortment of sizes of amazon purchased gas line for this purpose. The primer bulbs themselves will fail as will the fuel line, fuel shut-off valve, etc. I suggest not using the fuel shut off valve if it's made of plastic. Keep in "ON" and leave it on unless you have to use it. Plastic fuel tank caps on Chondas will also eventually fail. The engines themselves are great. Just all the soft bits suck and have since day one with these Chinese import engines.

In terms of the carburetors on them. I just mail order and replace them, being sure to keep the OEM in the replacement's box in case I want to dig into it.

 

[Donald]

I can't tell what engine this snowblower has, but the rubber and plastic quality on Chonda engines is horrible. Sorry if I missed it in this thread, but the primer bulb hose is probably dried out, cracked and split open. Very common on these. I keep an assortment of sizes of amazon purchased gas line for this purpose. The primer bulbs themselves will fail as will the fuel line, fuel shut-off valve, etc. I suggest not using the fuel shut off valve if it's made of plastic. Keep in "ON" and leave it on unless you have to use it. Plastic fuel tank caps on Chondas will also eventually fail. The engines themselves are great. Just all the soft bits suck and have since day one with these Chinese import engines.

In terms of the carburetors on them. I just mail order and replace them, being sure to keep the OEM in the replacement's box in case I want to dig into it.

The fuel cap is mostly metal with some plastic. The fuel line looked good. As does the primer bulb hose. The hose for the crankcase breather was split on one end. No fuel shutoff.

 

[JimPghPA]

Been having nothing but problems with my new $1400 2 stage HD Toro with cheap Chinese engine and carb. Never ever had an issue with my Tecumseh S-K over 27 years. The new Toro have a tiny "inaccessible" fuel filter in the gas tank outlet (dealer said no filter - morons!) Got a new carb from TORO and it was defective!

So check for good fuel flow from the tank. I would remove the tank and flush and dump it. Add a medium small automotive style in-line filter.
Also The air passageway drills for the emulsion jet in the carb are tiny and can get plugged with grime from the outside.

Some pretty good pro repair guy from Canada has a YT site, he mention some foaming spray cleaner that can work miracles I do not recall what it was.

Amsoil makes a foaming carb cleaner.

 

[Lubener]

Everyone is postulating about what might be wrong with the carb.

What he asked was how to get access.

I don't see anything useful from you but criticism.

 

[repairman54]

Might snow in Delaware LOL. My mighty Chief Tecumseh Ariens has consumed 6 gallons of fire water so far this winter.
Glad ya got it going.

 

[Ranger83]

I don't see anything useful from you but criticism.

Grumpycat! So you didn’t see the post about using the wire from a cable tie and an ultrasonic cleaner? Post 22?

The guy didn’t ask about cleaning his carb, he asked about getting access. @Donald hope you got it running as it looks like you got some snow! My daughter is in Baltimore and the place is shut down.

 

[Donald]

Grumpycat! So you didn’t see the post about using the wire from a cable tie and an ultrasonic cleaner? Post 22?

The guy didn’t ask about cleaning his carb, he asked about getting access. @Donald hope you got it running as it looks like you got some snow! My daughter is in Baltimore and the place is shut down.

It's nice to get the carb off and give it a good look over. Could be a mouse nest screwing things up or a split hose.

But if it was only the jet I think I could have gotten that out by only taking off the fuel bowl. Which is easy. But then seeing what you are doing is the issue as you need to get your head where the wheel is and look up.

 

[Donald]

Snow blower worked admirably on the 8" to 10" of wet-ish snow we got in southern Delaware.

Not as good as the monster 36" I had in NY. But good enough. With chains on the 36" one in NY there was virtually no stopping it. And it had a light.

Note to self - next time pulling carb, take photo of choke and automatic governor linkage.

 

[zzyzzx]

Snow blower worked admirably on the 8" to 10" of wet-ish snow we got in southern Delaware.

Your snow was wet???

 

[Donald]

Your snow was wet???

I think the bottom inch was wet. The rest was not. So temps must have changed during the storm.

 

[grampi]

If people would put fuel stabilizer in their gas (and run it through the engine) before storing, these problems wouldn't exist...

 

[odie]

I always use no name 90 non E .