We have been very lucky here in Jersey, so far this year as far as snow goes, so I have not gotten around to pulling out the snow blower - until yesterday and , of course, the engine wouldn't turn over.

It's 2 years old, not a lot of use so far and gas was drained at the end of last year. I replaced the spark plug but still no luck. I'm thinking gunk in the carb but don't know what else I can try.

Any suggestion?


[www.sears.com]

TIA

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JoeM

old mechanic's tricks abound.
1- When the spark plug is out, plug the spark lead back into the plug. Ground the plug to the blower. Pull the handle. See a little spark ?
2- When you pulled the handle on #1, did it pull easily ?
3- Put a few drops of gasoline into the spark plug hole. Put the plug back in. Pull the handle. Was there a little kaboom ?
4- Put a few drops of gasoline into the air intake (pull the air filter). Did you get ignition ?

Gunk in the carb can be cleaned by gumout, or just running some gas through it using method #4.

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mak, that's just cruel.

joe- note also that a little bit of 2 in 1 oil in the plug hole can also cure some ills. Check the oil if it's a 4 stroke. And be prepared to yank that sucker until your arm falls off. I had, at one point, made a tool from a spark plug socket and a socket extension that chucked into an electric drill to crank the engine on a lawnmower. Worked like a charm when I injured my arm and couldn't yank the handle.

On another note:

Best bit of front yard advertising I've ever seen:
An older snowblower sitting in the middle of a snowcovered front yard with a "FOR SALE $200" sign on it. The snow in the yard showed a nice cleared path where he had driven the snowblower along. I loved it- it answered any question anyone could every have about the machine. I wish I'd taken a picture of it. It was a classic.

>
> I'm thinking gunk in the carb but don't know what else I can try
>

If that Craftsman has a 3 to 4 HP (like a 3.5) Tecumseh 4 stroke engine and it's built in the last couple of years
then I would bet money that it indeed a gummed carb and you might as well as replace it. (the carb)

I have a similar one and after 3 years and religious storage procedure it varnished up anyway.
Against the advice of my trusted counter guys at my parts place (Kohler, B&S etc...)
I rebuilt mine twice and it still wouldn't run correctly (I was warned it wouldn't)

The cheap carb they used didn't allow a full rebuild because it wasn't designed to be rebuilt
It's a throw away - they told me two or three years average before they failed and I should
just replace it with the upgraded one for $55 (carb only)

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While this may not help your immediate problem, running some Seafoam through the fuel system helped me get an older MTD snowblower running well from barely running.

I also put some in the crankcase per the instructions and one of the two areas or the combination got it running like a champ.

This year I had trouble starting a 3-4 year old Ariens (5.5HP Tecumseh) even with electric start. The fuel wasn't drained but was stabilized (if I can belive the friend I bought it from). After a long time cranking I did what cbelt mentioned with the plug; good spark so I put some starting fluid in the hole but no go. (starting fluid was pretty old) , added fresh gas, drained the carb a bit, and repeated a few times and got it running. I later found the manual that recommended run the fuel tank dry and did not mention stabilizing the fuel.

Good luck

In 99% of cases I would agree about the Seafoam and I do run it in a couple older
Deere 200 series lawn tractors and it does a great job. That was the first thing I tried in my
Craftsman blower and it was still a no go. Can't hurt to try but I'm still betting money on
the crappy Walbo's they put on these (again - if it is the Tecumseh 4 stroke)

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I am west of Phily and it seems like snow has fizzled. As for your snowblower, I have never drained the gas or put additives in the gas tank of anything I have, lawnmower, snowblower or motorcycle and have never had problems. My solution to slow starting small engines is starting fluid. Works every time. Try it before doing anything drastic.

Aside fron checking for spark.
Checking for a fuel shut-off (I usually forget about mine the first time)
Checking for gas at the plug (should smell like gas if pulled out right after cranking)
Checking switch and/or safety switches,

Beat me to the punch.

Quote
mattkime

Thanks everybody, there is some really good advice here so I will save and print out this whole thread to try what you've suggested. BTW, I have an electric start which is helpful as I'm rehabing a torn rotator cuff and it is a 5 HP engine.

mattkime, LMAO and yes you are soooo cruel

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JoeM

That shovel isn't going to work very well with the handle severed.

That's the new 'no back strain' model.

lux, that shovel was made 'just like the drawing'. (you know the old toolmaker's joke..)