Snowblower won't work

[phenomic]

I have a snowblower that my mom bought for my neighbor to do his and our house. The neighbor never did his end and eventually got evicted so i snatched the blower back in the process of him being kicked out. I tried to start it this year and it just won't start. It is a few year old craftsman i believe. Does anyone have any ideas?

So far i have taken it apart and:
Replaced the belt, took out the spark plug (looked a little fouled so i sanded down the contacts and cleaned it really well with intake cleaner), i found an electric started buried deep within, and i put in new gas mixed with oil.


The thing still doesn't work. The electric motor is able to spin the blade but the starter smokes if i do it for more than 5 seconds. The electric motor however doesnt start the gas motor.

I've tried it with the choke onand off with the speed high and low but i just cant get the thing to work. Does anyone have any ideas? Btw, I found a strang thing that i don't know what it is. It looks like a switch of some sort that has two green wires going to it and its hanging loose. My dad said it may be a killswitch but I can't figure it out. Im going to mess with that. What else could be wrong with my blower?

 

[Brett Miller]

You'll find the carb is gummed up due to being stored without stabilizer. Your only option is to pull the carb and clean with a can of 2+2.

 

[road_rascal]

I would also check the fuel and and primer lines as well. I had to replace the both on and older blower here at work due to age, but I can imagine that they would get clogged if not treated with fuel stabilizer.

 

[eljefino]

I'd definately check for spark first; should be easy with electric crank.

 

[T-Keith]

I agree. New gas, clean carb and new plug fix snowblowers 99% of the time.

 

[Bror Jace]

Dad bought a brand new Ariens 11528 snowblower (11.5hp, 28” path) late last year to augment our 1984 John Deere 1032.

Ran it once for 30-40 minutes blowing 3” of light snow and it seemed fine. 2nd time was 2-3” of snow ... but wet ‘n slushy this time. Again, fine.

3rd time was light snow again, about 4-5” and the machine would bog down considerably. The Tecumseh engine seemed to be running fine (was running at maximum set throttle) but if I tried to go through fresh snow (even at the lowest travel speed) the auger seemed to bog down and the snow would only fly about 6-8’. That’s just not right. That thing should go through 12” of packed snow easy at its slowest travel speed!

I read through the manual and the one thing they said to check was the clutch/brake adjustment which I found out was a whole series of minor checks and adjustments. First thing to do was verify that the belts connecting the engine’s main shaft were aligned with the drive and auger pulleys. Nope, they were pretty badly misaligned and the belts, with only 2 hours of run time, had left shreds of rubber all over the place.

OK, not too difficult to adjust and put right. Glad I caught it so soon.

Then I checked the linkage for the auger engagement. Nope, also out of spec. It looks like the idler pulley wasn’t being squeezed tightly enough and when the snow load increased, the belt would slip and the auger would slow down.

Pretty good for a brand new machine with 2 hours of run time on it, eh?

I readjusted (tightened) that and then put everything back together.

Haven’t test run it yet but it looks like I’ll get a chance to try it out soon enough. More light snow in the forecast.

--- Bror Jace

PS – And yes, after the first two hours, I changed the oil. Good thing, too. Old oil looked very “silvery.”

I’m using Havoline 10W-30 right now. I’ll dump it after another 6-8 hours of use and put Pennzoil High Mileage Vehicle 10W-30 in.

 

[Mike_dup1]

That machine should come with a warranty. But you have to be careful where you but them. If they are cheap, then service is likely the last thing you can expect from that seller. There are a few hardware stores selling them also and they are useless for service. A friend bought one on'sale (last year model leftover) at the hardware store last year and something broke. Took them 3 weeks to fix it. The true dealers won't repair those machines as they undercut them on price.

The dealer around here has 3+2 yrs warranty on all machines, 3yrs for ariens and 2yrs for him.

I have used Ariens since 1970 and have not had any major problems. Once a family member could not get it started and the my dealer came right ot the house and serviced it at no cost under warranty. I currently have 36-inch 12hp top of the line model.

btw-I run them for 10 yrs and but new. Have only used synthetic oil in them since around 1972. Currently running on the 2rd year with the current oil in the engine. Just checked it this am, still looks new and I have never had to add oil to it. Aprrox. use is 40 hrs per winter as I have a truck to plow the hard stuff and use this for the walks and where the truck can cause damage.

[ January 12, 2005, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]

 

[jagabom]

On mine there is a kill switch. You have to insert a key to make it run. That part ketp falling apart so I just jumpered it out. It was right beside the choke and primer but you had to remove the cover to see it.

Jim
CYWG

 

[Bror Jace]

Thanks Mike. Not only did Dad buy this thing from a hardware store, he bought it from THE hardware store ... Home Despot.

I think the fact that the belts and engagement linkage were out of spec could account for the way the auger slowed down as it got loaded up.

Unfortunately (?) we haven't gotten snow since I adjusted it so I haven't been able to test it out. The snow that's down got soft (warm), rained on, then refroze. No way ANY snowblower is moving that.

These are relatively simple machines. I should be able to figure out what's wrong and adjust it to compensate. I guess my point is, I shouldn't HAVE to ... not on a brand new machine.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Mike_dup1]

It should have been setup right. But it was likely done by someone who never assembled on before.

This should make you jealous??

My machine got a 2 hr workout this am.

[ January 16, 2005, 12:37 PM: Message edited by: Mike ]

 

[Bror Jace]

Um, I'm not exactly 'jealous.' but I would like to take our 'adjusted' blower out and give it a test. However, we have more bare ground here than snow right now ... and the snow we do have is more ice than snow.

But after the last two winters here, this is a welcome change of pace.

That looks like a nice snowblower. They (Ariens) currently sell a 13hp - 36" path which is what Dad shouldhave gotten. He does way too much with a snowblower anyway ... 150 yard driveway and two parking lots ... with the larger one being about 80' x 120'

Should have a truck with a plow, instead.

Toro makes a dual-wheel 18hp - 45" which is just a Tim Allen dream come true ... but he wouldn't be able to get that monster through the dog's gate ... about 40" wide.

Still, the 11.5hp - 28" we just bought have is just too small for that kind of job.

So, what's that cocooned in the garage? Camaro? Mustang?

--- Bror Jace

 

[DockHoliday]

phenomic - 2 or 4 stoke?

I have to get out the starting fluid for the 1st snow each season (2 cycle Toro). I am now using a heavy dose of Fuel Power in hopes that I will keep the carb clean.

 

[Mike_dup1]

Thats what this one is, ST1336LE Professional, Its a 2000 model (new Nov.99), had a MSRP of $2495.

This machine has been trouble free. I use Amsoil 10W-30 PAO in it.

quote:

---

So, what's that cocooned in the garage? Camaro? Mustang?

---

Mustang! NEVER OWN A FORD, had to drive them and Dudges at work for 30 yrs and that was enough torture for one lifetime. Its a 2002 Trans Am WS6. fyi - The car is for sale, I want a new Cadillac CTX, saw one at the local dealer the other week and got to have one.

[ January 17, 2005, 11:25 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]

 

[Brett Miller]

That is a sweet car!

 

[Bret Chase]

clean the carb out... though I had to replace the carb on my parents 3 year old Craftsman snowblower 9hp-26". they left the **** thing outside since last winter... I cleaned the **** out of the carb 3 times.. I never could get fuel through the venturi.. even though I could spray carb cleaner through it and it had fuel in the bowl. oh well... it runs like a champ now w/ the new carb. I also changed the oil in it... yikes is al I can say... I'm going to grab it back from them in 2 wks to a month (depending on how much snow we get) and try out this "Tecumseh approved" 0W-30 synthetic that came with the Tecumseh tune-up kit.

-Bret

 

[Bror Jace]

Mike, sweet ride.

As for the Caddy, I’d wait a couple years and pick one up used, maybe a lease trade-in. That’ll be a third cheaper than buying new.

--- Bror Jace

 

[Mike_dup1]

I like the car but its not practical for me anymore. I need something that has more room to carry passengers etc.

The CTS I was looking at sold Monday. The dealer (know the owner personally since 1970) told me he will get me a program car and let me go with him to the Milwaukee GM auction to pick it out. We looked on the latest auction sale results this am and there were a few loaded CTS's going for about 10-15g off MSRP, so thats the route I will take if I can find one with less than 10,000 miles, which seems very likely.

[ January 20, 2005, 11:34 AM: Message edited by: Mike ]

 

[kkat]

--Most of the garden equipment you buy from the big box stores (walmart,lowes,homedepot etc) are not as well built as the same machine from a dealer, They cut corners so that they can offer it at a little better price,The manufacture builds them to whatever specs the big box wants. Im not saying that the machines are junk or anything, just not as well built as the same machine at a dealer, A trained eye can pick out the difference's pretty quick,Last winter I must have set up 30 snowblowers that came from the big boxes, people bought them tried to use them and no go, buy the time they were done they ended up paying more for the equipment than if they had bought it from a dealer all set up and ready to go in the first place. ,

 

[Bror Jace]

Mike, good luck.

kkat, I think you're right.

The Ariens blower seems to be a well-made machine ... but was not set up properly at the factory.

--- Bror Jace

PS - It's definitely going to get a work-out tomorrow morning. We'll see how it performs.

 

[Scott P]

Bror - How much snow did you guys end up with? I had about 18 inches or so with drifts up to 24 inches on my driveway. My Toro ate it up like it was nothing.

My machine a problem similar to yours, except mine was a manufacturing defect. I would toss the drivebelt under load. It turns out the pulleys were misaligned in the design and there was a recall issued to fix it.