Old toro snowblower runs poorly

[Japanese]

- Took the carb apart and there was some sediment in the bowl, cleaned it out and reinstalled.
- Found the service manual for the machine and followed the carb tuning instructions and now the machine runs great.

Great job!
Congrats!

 

[repairman54]

Unknown where from. From the video's it's behind a bunch of plastic cladding. This is the model with a long video on cleaning carb etc. Briggs & Stratton 1022E leaking fuel

Her description is it smells like gas and gets all over them (boots/pants etc) when they use it. It does run as they used it this weekend.

I might give her some B12 and have put a couple ounces in the tank before Friday. I don't know if any fuel in tank currently.

I'm going to say no one ever had it apart. Her father-in-law gave it to them and it sat. She's handy and likes projects but not like digging into OPE or cars. Around house projects no issues. I don't know about him but I know they do bring cars in for service, not DIY.

Don't forget to tell her about fuel stabilizer in the gas if running E10 fuel.

 

[Ranger83]

I respectfully disagree. The Tecumseh Snow King was the premier flat head snow blower engine in it's day. For decades. They were very robust. The problem is often the 5hp engine is under powered for deeper or heavier snow. That is not an engine problem. You need 8hp on a 24" (6HP on a 22") wide bucket minimum if you live in the North. You also have to know how to tune them. The newer OHV engines have their benefits over flatheads. But they are not as robust on a whole. Regardless of who makes them.

///

We replaced this 1970 5hp L head, still running, in 2001! We also had two later Ariens with Tecumseh OHV engines, their last before bankruptcy. That ‘70 is still in use! In my experience OHV’s produce more power and use less fuel.

 

[nbpt100]

We replaced this 1970 5hp L head, still running, in 2001! We also had two later Ariens with Tecumseh OHV engines, their last before bankruptcy. That ‘70 is still in use! In my experience OHV’s produce more power and use less fuel.



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It is pretty well established the OHV engines run cooler and produce more power per CC of displacement. They also use/burn less gas for the same amount of work. Therefore pollute less. Which is why the industry has stopped making them. Those benefits are excellent. On the other hand, In my experience they are not as robust as the Tecumseh flat head Snow King engines. I Just evaluated a OHV 208 CC LCT snow blower engine with an estimated 40-50 hours on it. It had regular oil changes and had nice full and nearly clean oil in it. Broken connecting rod. Go figure.

 

[Ranger83]

It is pretty well established the OHV engines run cooler and produce more power per CC of displacement. They also use/burn less gas for the same amount of work. Therefore pollute less. Which is why the industry has stopped making them. Those benefits are excellent. On the other hand, In my experience they are not as robust as the Tecumseh flat head Snow King engines. I Just evaluated a OHV 208 CC LCT snow blower engine with an estimated 40-50 hours on it. It had regular oil changes and had nice full and nearly clean oil in it. Broken connecting rod. Go figure.

Broken con rods are a common occurrence on snow throwers and many an L head put a con rod out the casing.

Owner would seldom change oil or check oil level.
Oil level would get low.
Operator would let bucket climb on a EOD pile.
Boom.

Bought this ST824 on eBay for $212. It had a brand new engine due to above.

Before.

After.

 

[hemitom]

Tecumseh were known to through rods if not kept full of oil .
My experience I prefer the OHV over the L-heads . run smoother, quieter , more fuel efficient and you don't smell of raw fuel after blowing your driveway.
my first blower was a 79 or 80 bolens 10 horse Tecumseh with 26 inch cut I had that blower until 2011 sold it still ran and blew snow very well never had any engine issues with it at all ! but constantly had to fiddle with carb adjustments.

 

[Gillsy]

Have you tried running any sort of fuel cleaner? I've had some luck resolving problems like that using Seafoam or B-12.

What does the plug look like?

 

[Ranger83]

The Ariens user groups seem to prefer NGK plugs over the [usually stock] Champions.

 

[fozzdesy2001]

Tecumseh were known to through rods if not kept full of oil .
My experience I prefer the OHV over the L-heads . run smoother, quieter , more fuel efficient and you don't smell of raw fuel after blowing your driveway.
my first blower was a 79 or 80 bolens 10 horse Tecumseh with 26 inch cut I had that blower until 2011 sold it still ran and blew snow very well never had any engine issues with it at all ! but constantly had to fiddle with carb adjustments.

Vintage Tecumseh flat heads were tough. like you said carbs seemed to be a problem little tweak every year,