STUPID Snowblower!!

[justinp20012500]

I have a Craftsmans 5/24 Trac-Plus Snowblower.



Has been sitting most of the year and I left gas in it. (Ya I know, stupid)



Well after soaking the carn in carb spray for a few hours it cleaned up nicely.



The problem is when it went back together it dosen't run right.



It will run with the chock open, and the throttle wide open. As soon as you try to let it idle it will die.



It will also do the same with chock half closed or closed.



There are two mixture screws I have been playing with; the one on the bottom of the float bowl, and one on the side of the carb.



Which one does what?? Is it running too fat?? To lean??



I wish it was a diesel!!!! Much easier to tune!!





Justin

 

[TORQUE THIS]

THe screw on the side of the carb should be at 1 to 1-1/4 turns out. The one on the bottom of the bowl should be 1-1/2 turns out.



Don't turn the screws in too hard, you'll damage the needles...





Once the motor is running, on high speed (you may have to play with the choke a little while doing this) turn the bottom screw in or out a little till you can get it to run without the choke.

 

[KBennett]

Sounds like it's running lean or you may have a vacuum leak. Make sure you have a good gasket between the carb and the mounting surface or you will suck air in through any gaps.

 

[JFinke]

You did'nt get the idle circuit cleaned out good and it needs the choke to get fuel on the low end. Take it all back apart and spray carb cleaner through all the internal passages and then blow compressed air through them. Jake

 

[justinp20012500]

You did'nt get the idle circuit cleaned out good and it needs the choke to get fuel on the low end. Take it all back apart and spray carb cleaner through all the internal passages and then blow compressed air through them. Jake

Where would the idle circuit be???



When I prime it 2 or 3 pushes I get a drip of gas to come out the end of the carb. Is that because the float level is set too high???

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Justin, please try the adjustments I mentioned...



Priming a snowblower will cause a little gas to drip.





FWIW... I have about 10+ years experience in small engine repair.

 

[justinp20012500]

I will try that tonight.



Do you think those adjustments will be the right ones even at 4600' elev???





Thanks.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Start with those adjustments I gave you. It might be a 1/4 to 1/2 turn either way to get it running strong.



When you soaked the carb, did you blow it out with compressed air?



Make sure the float needle seat is still there.



To adjust the float, lightly press up on the float, oposite the needle till it stops. The float should not be level, it should be a little lower opposite the needle, but not lower then the inside stem of the carb.

 

[justinp20012500]

I replaced the float bowl gasket and the little white o ring thing that the needle seats up against.



I will try the adjustments.



Yes on the compresses air.



Thanks for sharing your knowledge.





Justin

 

[TORQUE THIS]

One thing to check also is that the white o-ring is installed correctly. There is a small grove cut in one side, that should be inserted so its in side the carb, the solid part of the o-ring faces the needle. Make sure it is seated flat with an allen wrench.

 

[justinp20012500]

I will have to check that. I just crammed it up in there...

 

[tractorface]

I had trouble similar to yours once and found the fuel filter to be clogged. A small leaf blower once gave me fits with the small sponge type filters being clogged.

 

[B.G. Smith]

I have a Craftsm

There are two mixture screws I have been playing with; the one on the bottom of the float bowl, and one on the side of the carb.



Which one does what?? Is it running too fat?? To lean??



I wish it was a diesel!!!! Much easier to tune!!





Justin

The screw on the bottom is the fuel adjustment screw, the one on the side is air mixture for idle. It adjusts the amount of air that passes over the idle circuit to pick up more or less fuel. Look into the front of the carb and you will see a small hole in one side that is partially covered by the throttle plate when it is closed, this is the idle air passage, the fuel pickup for idle is usually a small brass tube extending down into the fuel bowl. Have fun. bg

 

[justinp20012500]

Justin, please try the adjustments I mentioned...



Priming a snowblower will cause a little gas to drip.





FWIW... I have about 10+ years experience in small engine repair.

Went out tonight and did exactly the turns on each of the screws that you told me and it worked perfect!!!







Thanks again.





Justin

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Glad to hear it...



Time to go fire up my snowblower... we're getting hammered again this week!

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Glad to hear it...



Time to go fire up my snowblower... we're getting hammered again this week!

Heh. . . the problem for some in the NW is the long green grass. . . people been firing up the mowers already in the Seattle area

 

[MMeier]

Snowblower WTH is that ?? Mowed my grass 2 weeks ago and already is darn near 10" high, been raining too much, hopefully stays dry till tomorrow afternoon so I can cut it again !!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

FWIW... I have about 10+ years experience in small engine repair.

Did you ever try chocolate milk in a Briggs and Stratton?

I put some in my Tecumseh snowblower engine and it ran quite well... it really mooooooved a lot of snow compared to straight unleaded gasoline...



:-laf



MTY

 

[KBennett]

Heh. . . the problem for some in the NW is the long green grass. . . people been firing up the mowers already in the Seattle area

... . and some of them run diesel

 

[IC Smoke]

what mower isnt diesel??



Kubota

ZD21

B2400 both 3cly diesel

Im in the process of putting a small 2cyl diesel on a push mower :-laf it should be quite the deal once its finished (ongoing project)





The problem to me sounds like a muffler bearing going out. when these go its bad news and they wont idle/run very well. Also rotate teh tracks/tires that too causes unstable motor idleing :-laf hahah I couldnt resist





Ian