Hard starting LCT snow engine..

[JTK]

I did some maintenance on my 1yr old Ariens Sno-tek 28" snowblower today. Changed oil and had to adjust the skid-shoes because they had slid fully up on me. I had mentioned in another thread that it had become impossible to pull-start cold, but would fire up no problem with the E-start and run perfectly.

I pulled the tin work around the carburetor and found the culprit. The hose from the primer bulb to the carb was cracked wide-open. On barely a one year old machine that was kept in clean, dry storage! I replaced the part bubble gum and paper mache hose with a piece of nice soft and flexible silicone aquarium tubing. Of all the miscellaneous bits of gas line and whatnot I had on hand, nothing would match up to the OEM Chinese goodness.

You need to remove 6, 10mm bolts and need a pick or the likes to pop the tab to remove the chock knob allowing enough movement of the cover to remove this hose. I didn't look into what it would take to completely remove this cover because the kill switch and key are also integrated and need to have their wiring disconnected. Way too cold out to mess with that plastic.

Anyway.. she fired right up first pull with a functioning primer bulb!

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Good find! I'll have to remember that, although my YardMan tracked unit is around twenty years old and might not be worth spending too much time repairing.
The YM became also impossible to pull start a few years ago and I was doing all e-starts, but, suddenly, I can start it with the cord this season. The only things I changed were using the tailings of some synthetic oil bottles I had laying around to refill it this year (some M1 and QSUD 5W30, had just enough) and giving it a bit of Liqui Moly MoS2 just because it was nearby.
????

 

[JTK]

Funny you should mention a YardMan. My old snowblower is a ~16yr/old YarMan 7hp/24", with a 7hp OHV Tecumseh. That sucker will still start in one or two pulls. The rest of the machine is getting pretty worn and it's an odd-ball 2-shaft engine that's tough to find and difficult to retrofit with a single shaft.. Why I purchased the SnoTec machine last year. Keeping the old YardMan as backup.

 

[HerrStig]

I'm now using M1 0w 30 in my four cycle machine instead of 5w 30 syn. .

 

[NHGUY]

Seriously,anybody would be better off with a 72-78 Ariens Sno Thro,with a swapped in Briggs engine as opposed to spending $1000 for a new flimsy,Chinese one.Looking at how they are made now,I just have to snicker.The fabrication is one step up from sheet metal on a car fender and all the aluminum and plastic is shocking (but typical of todays products).

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Funny you should mention a YardMan. My old snowblower is a ~16yr/old YarMan 7hp/24", with a 7hp OHV Tecumseh. That sucker will still start in one or two pulls. The rest of the machine is getting pretty worn and it's an odd-ball 2-shaft engine that's tough to find and difficult to retrofit with a single shaft.. Why I purchased the SnoTec machine last year. Keeping the old YardMan as backup.


I cannot believe how long my YardMan has lasted...the biggest problem I had was teeth shedding off the original plastic drive sprockets for the tracks. The replacement sprockets have been good for 15 years, the originals were useless after about 5. I will NOT be buying another tracked snowblower for sure! Not sure if Honda even still makes them...

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
I'm now using M1 0w 30 in my four cycle machine instead of 5w 30 syn. .


You know, I can't see any reason in the world to not use 0W30 instead of 5W30 in my YardMan, assuming it lasts past this season. Almost every start is going to be a cold one, and could NOACK really be a concern in an application like this????

 

[spk2000]

I have that same Ariens. It starts and runs very good. I can throw snow that is light, fluffy across my 3 car wide drive. Neighbor has a troy bilt that I was considering and he only throw same snow about 10 feet. Makes a big difference in time spent clearing snow. Thanks for the advice on the primer bulb should I find the same issue.

 

[Donald]

An Ariens Sno-Tek is the value line from Ariens. I think the real Ariens are worth the extra money assuming you do not need to pay list price at a dealer.

 

[toneydoc]

Well down here in the deep south, we are not really sure what you guys are talking about. I mean we put our lawn mowers up for a few months and that is it. We do not throw snow. If we are lucky, we can make a few snow balls each year but that has to be quickly done after a 'snow' because it will be gone pretty soon.

Was nice down here today. 57 degrees and was a little windy. Made it feel like 50.

Hope you guys figure out the snow blower machines. good luck

But on a good note. Took the Harley out for a 100 miles or so around noon. No snow in sight. Hope it stays that way

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Donald
An Ariens Sno-Tek is the value line from Ariens. I think the real Ariens are worth the extra money assuming you do not need to pay list price at a dealer.


You might want to look into that a bit more Donald. A $1500 orange Ariens has the exact same LCT engine as my $600 "value line" black painted Ariens.

 

[dave123]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: Donald
An Ariens Sno-Tek is the value line from Ariens. I think the real Ariens are worth the extra money assuming you do not need to pay list price at a dealer.


You might want to look into that a bit more Donald. A $1500 orange Ariens has the exact same LCT engine as my $600 "value line" black painted Ariens.

+1 and a big reason I never went with a Ariens and went with a Simplicity and got the B&S professional engine instead and all around a better built blower.

 

[JetStar]

I'll have to check mine, It's been rather cantankerous to start this year.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: Donald
An Ariens Sno-Tek is the value line from Ariens. I think the real Ariens are worth the extra money assuming you do not need to pay list price at a dealer.


You might want to look into that a bit more Donald. A $1500 orange Ariens has the exact same LCT engine as my $600 "value line" black painted Ariens.


There is more to it than the engine. There is the whole drive system to pick up/blow snow and drive the wheels. I would guess what will fall apart first is something other than the engine.

 

[Bror Jace]

Good deal JTK. My Ariens hasn't turned a single RPM since I broke it out of storage in November.

 

[BrianF]

My Poulan had the same issue. Bought it in November 2013 and by June 2014 it would not start. I used some clear fuel line then and it has not missed a beat since.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Donald

There is more to it than the engine. There is the whole drive system to pick up/blow snow and drive the wheels. I would guess what will fall apart first is something other than the engine.


Agreed, but if you compare the Ariens compact and deluxe lines, the Snow-Tek shares the majority of the parts. The Snow-Tek has no headlight, has a plastic discharge chute and has an aluminum auger worm gear case. Platinum and Professional lines are the "real" Ariens. I'm not saying the Snow-Tek line are awesome, but IMO they're built a lot better than MTD for less cost than MTD.

In regards to the import engines most of them use now, it seems like they've got the metallurgy down and plastics are decent, but rubber parts are horrible.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: JetStar
I'll have to check mine, It's been rather cantankerous to start this year.


Mine was OK, nice and flexible, checked it tonight.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: JetStar
Originally Posted By: JetStar
I'll have to check mine, It's been rather cantankerous to start this year.


Mine was OK, nice and flexible, checked it tonight.


Good deal. Nice thing on these LCT engines is, you can reach under the tin work and feel for defects on this little hose. I could feel the huge crack in the OEM hose on mine. You could probably swap it without loosening anything, but it would take some fiddling.