Guess what, after running abosolutely perfect the other day, this f**cking POS is acting up again. Heavy wet snow/rain last night here in CT. Machine ran great for 25 ft and stalled under load. Dragged it back into garage. Installed new plug, confirmed valve clearance. Now it drives absolutely fine but stalls as soon as I engage auger. I won't have time to work on it again until Saturday. It's still hard starting with a pop or two out the carb. I'm sure I would not be able to start it with the electric start. I'm at wit's end with this. Time to double check to see something is causing the auger to jam, or an issue with the flywheel causing timing to be off. Any other thoughts before I send this off to a repair shop or shoot it and buy an electric one!!!
Help with small engine
- Thread starter Muggs63
- Start date
dmaxfireman
Well-known member
If its popping out of the carb the first 3 things that come to mind would be; your ignition module is no good causing off time spark, your valves are not adjusted correctly or you have a leaking valve.
I'd start with a leak down test, and move on from there.
I'd start with a leak down test, and move on from there.
rustyjames
Well-known member
I think the problem is the coil, seen this before.
dmaxfireman
Well-known member
Skip the compression gauge and go right to a cylinder leak down gauge. These small motors typically have compression release tabs on the exhaust cam lobe that will not let you get an accurate reading.
You want to know where the leak is by putting pressure into the cylinder, then listen at the intake, exhaust, and oil fill / dipstick. I take a piece of single ply toilet paper and hold it at each spot and see if it blows at all if you have trouble hearing.
You want to know where the leak is by putting pressure into the cylinder, then listen at the intake, exhaust, and oil fill / dipstick. I take a piece of single ply toilet paper and hold it at each spot and see if it blows at all if you have trouble hearing.
rd65
Well-known member
have you checked your flywheel to see if the key has partially sheered? this can throw timing off just enough so that unit will start but run crappy.
engineer2
Well-known member
Did you try it with the gas cap loose? Some of these have very restrictive tank venting for emissions. See if there is a gas tank vent with a check ball and restrictor. "Updating" that fixed mine. I also had way too small of a main jet.
OP said it is a new snow blower, so I wouldn't expect wear-and-tear issues that plague engine that are many years old.
OP said it is a new snow blower, so I wouldn't expect wear-and-tear issues that plague engine that are many years old.
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Sent you a conversation.
That was the first thing I did and actually tried it a second time to make sure!! I wish it was that easy. Thanks
Will be doing this Saturday, along with inspecting the coil. If I can't see anything obvious, off it goes to dmaxfireman, he is close to me in CT.
kelpaso1
MEMBER EMERITUS
Why would you need to inspect the coil? Either you are getting spark or your not.
rustyjames
Well-known member
I've had coils work, not work intermittently. It does happen.
FredWanaker
Well-known member
Muggs - you never answered if it had a manual choke. There were several reasons I asked that. We need to isolate if this is an air to fuel issue, an ignition issue, or a compression/mechanical issue. Is there any chance there was more **** in the fuel tank that plugged the screen again? Crapping out under load is usually a mixture issue although it can be a spark strength issue. If you have a choke you can pull it out a little when it starts to load up. If it runs worse then the mixture is too rich, if it runs better the mixture is too lean. If there is no change when you play with the choke a LITTLE then it is probably something else. GENERALLY when an engine dies under load it is caused by a lean mixture. Have to think like a fuel molecule sometimes to get to the bottom of it.
Because I've experienced a bad gap in coil/armature in the past. Someone in before me was too sloppy. I didn't consider this in case because I purchased it new and had less then 10 hours. Like everyone else here, I really thought I was dealing with a fuel system issue.
It does have manual choke and there is really no change.
FredWanaker
Well-known member
If the choke is all the way disengaged once it starts, and it starts to bog down pull the choke out a little to see if that helps. If not then changing the A/F mixture doesn't appear to be your issue. Pulling the choke should change its running behavior massively - literally it should be belching black smoke with the choke partway engaged once it warms up a bit. Another thing to look at is make sure the air filter isn't wet. I have seen engines stall out when that happens.
engineer2
Well-known member
Might be worth asking at the https://www.snowblowerforum.com/
Maybe someone there is familiar with the engine it uses.
Maybe someone there is familiar with the engine it uses.
FredWanaker
Well-known member
sounds like the carb is working right and fuel is there if it acts this way under load when it is finicky. Here in California there are some things different on small engines, like preset metering orfices instead of needles. I had one unscrew itself on a edger a few years back and it ran poorly. Once I realized it had fallen out got one from the local repair shop and it was fine.
FredWanaker
Well-known member
DId a quick lookup on a small engine forum I go to sometimes. Google infers that is a LCT engine. The only thing similar I saw was plugged fuel lines causing an issue and low oil causing the low oil sensor to cause issues. If it is a LCT engine maybe try here https://lctusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/PGM45015_Online-Service-Man_revI_071718.pdf
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engineer2
Well-known member
Low oil sensors don't work very well on snow blowers. Too much tilting and bouncing around. I disconnected the one on my PredaToro because every time I went over a curb, it would trip the low oil switch and kill the engine.
I called a couple of local stations on that site and they said all their premium gas (91 oct.) is alcohol free, not something new or special. So why the list??
Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada
Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.www.pure-gas.org
If you can find ethanol free gas in your area, it's well worth it. I don't use stabilizers, just 100% gas in my small engines. I turn off the fuel shutoff (added one to my snowblower because it didn't have one) and run the engine until the carb is dry. That's it for storage. Change the oil before use and prime the carb with what's in the tank and they've always fired right up for me.
532r5
Well-known member
This is the problem here in NJ. The governor is way out of adjustment.
RoninB4
Well-known member
Just going to put this out there. Had a small motor on a used piece of equipment that had old gas and sludge preventing the motor from starting. Tore the carb down for cleaning and I could swear the previous owner had used varnish remover to try cleaning the carb out. I got down to the float bowl and could NOT get the final layer of green slime out. I tried several types of solvents (have many) but nothing worked. Last resort before mechanical abrasives was what I considered a joke. Pine-Sol soaking in a small container made everything clean beyond my expectations. Use a 50/50 mix for anything that's zinc die cast (or it may start dissolving it) and check every two hours. It won't affect brass or steel but it can affect zinc die cast. Wash off with water and a quick shot of alcohol or brake cleaner to remove the water. Inexpensive, non-toxic, and widely available. Try it.
I finally figured this out, and I caused the last issue!! I had my son in-law over to load it in my truck to bring it to damaxfireman. I had to take one more shot at it and laid down on the garage floor too see around the housings while my son in-law engaged the auger. What I found was when I reinstalled the housings, I pushed a boot off one of the inline connector to a wire going to the "key" switch. When I had him move the handle up and down the wire grounded out on the auger cable. I put the boot back in place and went out and ran the machine at the side of the road and blew hard pack snow/ice for an hour with no issues. Now I'm inside kicking my self in the ***! Thanks for everyone's help.
Plastikosmd
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2016
- Messages
- 1,254
I respect your tenacity.
Going immediately from a fuel problem in which you really weren’t really sure it was a fuel problem to then developing an electrical problem and troubleshooting that takes patience. Many people ascribe it to a single point of failure, chase tail and give up.
I know I think I have in the past LOL
As the the quote goes, “if you can’t fix it with a hammer it’s electrical problem”
Going immediately from a fuel problem in which you really weren’t really sure it was a fuel problem to then developing an electrical problem and troubleshooting that takes patience. Many people ascribe it to a single point of failure, chase tail and give up.
I know I think I have in the past LOL
As the the quote goes, “if you can’t fix it with a hammer it’s electrical problem”