Starting after 22+ months.

[gizzsdad]

Snowblower hadn't been run since probably Feb. of 2016. Had been lazy and didn't even touch it last winter. Finally had enough snow to make it worthwhile, but had a tough time starting. Used my usual first start routine - turn fuel petcock on, turn choke on, push primer bulb 5 times, then give cord a couple of long, slow pulls to pull some fuel in. Then tried a couple of pulls with the cord - nothing. Added some fresh (Seafoam treated) gas, tank was lower than I expected. Even after plugging the electric start in, was still a tough go to get her running, probably 5 cranks of 5+ seconds each. Finally belched out some dark smoke and was running. Ran fine as I backed off choke and cleared drive. Learned some lessons. My thought is that 2+ years for the Seafoam is too long, has never give me any indication of trouble until this instance. I'm also guessing the entire fuel system excepting the tank was bone dry, and possibly varnished - maybe even carb. Next time will definitely start and run at least once if I don't have to use it. The electric start really saved my bacon, under normal circumstances it cranks less than 2 seconds to full run, even if I've managed to flood it. For those wondering, it is a 6-7 year old Ariens Deluxe 24, with about an 11.75 ft-lb Briggs. I see the new ones are EFI.

 

[spasm3]

If I knew I would not start it for that long, I would never use seafoam in it. Seafoam is mostly oil and alcohol. Alcohol attracts water. I use stabil and 1 oz of tcw3 in 5 gallons, that mix goes in my ope before sitting for winter.

 

[jeepman3071]

Fuel systems never give problems... until they do. The carburetors on small engines are usually not that precise, so they can sometimes run alright with some junk in there until something gets plugged and they won't run at all or run very rough.

 

[BrocLuno]

Have to turn off petcock and let engine die by running out of fuel. Otherwise old gas does bad things in carburetor ... Always best to get tank dry too, if going to store it. Then just splash in fresh fuel and it'll go much easier Gasoline is getting weirder and weirder as they make changes to the formulas to keep EPA happy

 

[CourierDriver]

You did well after sitting that long,,,good job.

 

[i_hate_autofraud]

I found that pull starters can snap at the wrong time, so I use starter spray into the foam intake filter so it starts in 1 or 2 pulls! Pull start cord lasts longer!

 

[JHZR2]

I cant say that 5 cranks of 5s or so is that bad. I assume the machine was quite cold, on top of the old fuel... I too would avoid seafoam for stabil or equivalent. Im not fearful of pump E10, I just wouldnt want to add more alcohol for fuel that might sit. Id even consider some of that true mix fuel since this is an application where you know when its done, its going to sit a long while...

 

[JTK]

Had this been a newer LCT engine powered Ariens, my bet after ~2yrs of no use would be the fuel shut-off valve would have started hemorrhaging fuel at an alarming rate. Seen a few of these issues now with friends/neighbors. My fuel valve started feeling very crunchy on the LCT on my 3yr/old Ariens Snow-Tek, so I've left it on and are not touching it for now. Friend of mine had his come right apart when he twisted it to the "On" position and dumped the contents of the tank on his driveway.

 

[Rolla07]

My first year winterizing i used Stabil. Since then, just run them til empty. At least you got it running

 

[irv]

Originally Posted By: CourierDriver

You did well after sitting that long,,,good job.

My thoughts exactly, and without the Seafoam, things could have been a lot worse, imo.

 

[Doc8404]

Originally Posted By: gizzsdad

Snowblower hadn't been run since probably Feb. of 2016. Had been lazy and didn't even touch it last winter. Finally had enough snow to make it worthwhile, but had a tough time starting. Used my usual first start routine - turn fuel petcock on, turn choke on, push primer bulb 5 times, then give cord a couple of long, slow pulls to pull some fuel in. Then tried a couple of pulls with the cord - nothing. Added some fresh (Seafoam treated) gas, tank was lower than I expected. Even after plugging the electric start in, was still a tough go to get her running, probably 5 cranks of 5+ seconds each. Finally belched out some dark smoke and was running. Ran fine as I backed off choke and cleared drive. Learned some lessons. My thought is that 2+ years for the Seafoam is too long, has never give me any indication of trouble until this instance. I'm also guessing the entire fuel system excepting the tank was bone dry, and possibly varnished - maybe even carb. Next time will definitely start and run at least once if I don't have to use it. The electric start really saved my bacon, under normal circumstances it cranks less than 2 seconds to full run, even if I've managed to flood it. For those wondering, it is a 6-7 year old Ariens Deluxe 24, with about an 11.75 ft-lb Briggs. I see the new ones are EFI.

Similar situation and running somlean the middle ris cherry red. Oil change. Fresh gas and Berryman B12 and little change. New carb with fuel line, filter and primer bulb from Amazon, $15. Too [censored] cold to install.

 

[Warstud]

I start mine about every month during the summer. And around September it wouldn't start. A couple weeks ago I drained the old gas out and poured it into my truck. Bought new gas on the first snow fall and it started right up.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: JTK

My fuel valve started feeling very crunchy on the LCT on my 3yr/old Ariens Snow-Tek, so I've left it on and are not touching it for now. Friend of mine had his come right apart when he twisted it to the "On" position and dumped the contents of the tank on his driveway.

YEP - - The one in my Champion water pump swelled and shut off fuel supply inside. I had to cut out the section of the rubber piece between the two holes and made a mental note to never touch it ever again.

 

[iahawk]

gizzsdad...I also live in Iowa and had te same issue...only ran my 6 yr old Ariens 24 at the start and end of last season, didn't use it to blow any snow. Put canned fuel in it in Dec, siphoned it out and ran it dry in March. Started up easy last month but ran like [censored]...after disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the carb at least 3 times I finally cleared whatever was making it run poorly. Blower only has about 10 hours on it. Unless we have a really big snow using the Toro 2 stoke single stage is a whole lot easier.

 

[gizzsdad]

Originally Posted By: iahawk

gizzsdad...I also live in Iowa and had te same issue...only ran my 6 yr old Ariens 24 at the start and end of last season, didn't use it to blow any snow. Put canned fuel in it in Dec, siphoned it out and ran it dry in March. Started up easy last month but ran like [censored]...after disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the carb at least 3 times I finally cleared whatever was making it run poorly. Blower only has about 10 hours on it. Unless we have a really big snow using the Toro 2 stoke single stage is a whole lot easier.

See, up until this year, I never had any problems. Put away in Feb./March - get out in Dec./Jan. and starting was no issue. But with almost two years - different deal. I realize that the run dry vs fill with treated fuel camps are about 50/50 for OPE. Knowing what I know now, I will not make that mistake again.

 

[gizzsdad]

As an update, first start after 11 months or so - one pull and ran great! Still using Seafoam until I use it up. Have Startron and K100 on hand.