Home Improvement → Snowblower not starting...

I suspect the fuel. It's at my folks so any ideas/suggestions what to bring to attempt fix? carb cleaner? drygas?

It ran 3 weeks ago, and my father told me he filled it up (he's in NJ). He checked the sparkplug (gap good, spark on crank). I suspect water in fuelline or carb.
Non-battery start btw. Pull only.

Anyone else have this and resolved?

First, make sure that the key or whatever shutdown mechanism it has isn't what is causing it not to start.

If you still suspect it is fuel, bring your own clean fresh fuel.
Remove all old fuel from the machine and clean the tank.

Do not expect to add some magic crap to the gas and have it work. Also, if the fuel is actually bad, then there is a decent chance that the carb will need work too.

Yeah. Thanks on that! I was looking up online, and to bring some wrenches and check/remove carb bowl and clean (if gummed up).
Didn't think on key (its a cheap plastic thing).

Did they shut off fuel under tank last time it ran?

If there is spark, then key is "ON"

Keep in mind that there is more that can go wrong with a carb than just a dirty bowl.

I am assuming it is open (not off).

Yeah, I was thinking of finding a new carb as they are cheaper than rebuilding. But then, this ethanol fuel, plus really cold weather... might be water in line (frozen). It did run before the really cold few weeks so... I'll know more when I see it up close (tonight I hope)

Bring it indoors (Heated Garage or Basement) and let it warm up overnight.

Use starting fluid and try to see if it will start. Then work back from there.

Thanks for reminding me. I need to add gas conditioner to my gas. It tends to loose the "oomph", when I fail to add the stuff to it. Granted 4 gallons of gas tends to get me through summer and winter, normally.
Maybe all you need to do is add gas conditioner to it?

Why does it seem like stored gasoline breaks down into water after 6 months? I had a gas and oil mixture that had been on the shelf for over a year. I poured it on some logs, and it just wouldn't catch.
Did the old leaded gas of the 70's have a longer shelf life, then the new ethanol blends?

DING! Cho ... spot on. I am so ..grrrr... I laughed at my Dad. I got to the house and saw snowblower tracks. Wait a minute! run inside and I look at my Dad. He has that look. You know. The ID 10 T look.
He had the choke set right. He had the fuel open. But he had the throttle down (off) and not up.

Duh. Not fuel. But not throttled up to Start!
Once I told him I posted for help, I bet he went in the garage and went through the checklist I emailed.
Ofcourse he got it working, used it and never thought of emailing me to save me from driving through some p1sspoor plowed roads.
Ugh.

Anyway. All good now. Nothing to see here. But panicked old father that realized he flubbed.

Glad to hear it is working. I would still have your folks start conditioning their fuel with a stabilizer (something like Sta-Bil) or something to stabilize and combat ethanol ( like Amsoil Quickshot). If you keep your OPE fuel treated, it can reduce a lot of problems down the road. Good luck with the snow!

I have started buying only mid grade gas. It's a better mix

That's funny... because I did the very same thing just a few days ago. I have a relatively new Cub Cadet snowblower and it usually starts on the very first pull. I filled it up with gas, set the choke, pumped the primer, and pulled the starter rope. NADA.. nuthin'... just hiccupped and sat there. What the heck... I had just used it with no problem a couple of days before. So I pulled it a few more times and was about ready to call the dealer when I looked down and saw that the throttle control was all the way off... just like it was when I shut it down after the previous use. So if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one who did something dumb. I felt like a complete idiot. DUH! When I set the throttle open, and pulled just one more time, it immediately roared to life. So take some solace n the fact that you're not alone.

BTW- using a conditioner such as Sta-Bil is really only effective when introduced to "fresh" gasoline. It doesn't do very much for gas that's been sitting for awhile. Virtually all my owner's manuals specify 89 octane gasoline for small engine use. Especially 2-cycle engines. My dealer backed that up by saying that 89 octane has less alcohol in it, and alcohol is the bane of small engine carburetors/gaskets/seals. Regardless of whether you use a conditioner or not.

Not that I +never+ would have the problem your Dad had, but I always leave the generator/snowblower/powerwasher/etc running when I am done with it and just close the gas supply valve.

After a few minutes the carb is empty and there is no chance of varnish/ethanol damage etc in the carb.

A side benefit is that the throttle is open so the next time I try to start it there is +little+ likely hood of having a 0 throttle position.

Having heard about ethanol blended gas, and what it does to small engine fuel systems when stored, I found a few fuels that are for both 4 and 2 cycle engines. They are not inexpensive, like $5 a quart but worth it when you need the equipment to operate, after sitting. Home Depot has it, along with other power equipment dealers. Also, Big River. They are ethanol free, and supposed to last 2 years after opening the container. I have been using it on my Poulan lawn mower with no problems. A qt can fills the mowers tank, and will last me about a half dozen mowings in my tiny front yard. BTW, I had to mow last week here on the Oregon coast.

Why not just buy Ethanol Free Gasoline to start with at about $5/gal? That a lot more cost effective than $5/qt

So after you buy about 10 quarts of this magic stuff, you could have purchased a new carb.

Use regular gas, add StaBil for longer shelf life, but run fuel system empty after each use. Turn off suply on bottom of tank and let engine run until it stops by it self.

Personally I have not had a problem with ethanol fuel ( knock on wood ) in my Stihl saw from 20 years ago, my John Deere Snow Blower from 1983, the Subaru engine on my 10 year old Dewalt pressure washer, my 16 year old Homelite generator, or 15 year old Stihl string trimmer.

As I said, the key is to empty the Carb by running it dry when you are done. At the end of the season, empty the fuel tank also and leave the cap off for a few days so it drys out.

Winter before last Ethanol got both my Stihl trimmer and leaf blower. Even with stabilizer for ethanol. $130 to fix. My Stihl/John Deere dealer of many years here said additives are worthless. Use Non-Ethanol and never have an issue. People are lined up at the non-ethanol pump all the time at my quick-stop.

Agree, Stabil is not for ethanol it is for improving shelf life.

In NJ we can not purchase gas without ethanol.

Like I said, knock on wood, has not been a problem for me. Very strange to me that BOTH pieces of power equipment got Zapped at same time.

There are 3 service stations in the city here (population 3100), none sell ethanol free fuel. As I stated in my post I use so little fuel that a gallon would probably last a couple of years. The closest ethanol free location is a 40 mile round trip. The non ethanol fuel still has about a years shelf life so I would probably have it going bad before using even a small amount, and I drive a diesel so I can't dump it in the fuel tank to use it before it goes bad.

It may have been bad gas. The oil company that runs my quick-stop says ethanol content can vary all over the place from low to over 10 percent. That may be why my equipment failed.

Not if you buy a quality carb. Some of the cheap aftermarket replacements don't fit right and run like crap. I prefer just cleaning the existing carb, and rebuilding if the rubber parts are bad (eg small chainsaw carbs the have a diaphram for pumping the fuel).

we have had ethanol in our fuels for over 15 years at this point, as long as you run dry by the end of the season your fine. i use nothing in regular 87 gas. and i have tons of small motors

i love how ethanol is suddenly a problem

If there's an airport near you, you can get avgas 100LL a lot cheaper than $20/gallon. See »www.100ll.com/ for pricing at your preferred FBO;I have a 13 year old MTD, usually using BP or Sunoco 87 Octane/10% ethanol. I shut down by shutting off the fuel line valve and letting it run until it starts running lean, then shutting off the engine with the throttle control.

I have to prime and choke the carb when starting, but I haven't had any fuel or carburetor issues yet. I could start it manually, but being lazy I usually use the electric starter.

For older engines with lower compression due to worn rings/valves, you could use a heat lamp set a few feet away from the engine to warm it up before starting.

Note - you need to check for lead fouling of plugs if you use leaded fuel ...

How old is the blower?

Heh. Never mind.

I use 100LL for my machines but I mix it 50/50 with 87 octane. There will be no lead fouling that way and the lead helps lubricate as well. The machines run a lot better on the mix.

Once my snowblower would stall, wait ten minutes then start, blow 20 feet of driveway then stall. One day forgetting to put the gas cap on it started and kept going. I made it through the rest of the season by not tightening down the gas cap but rather let it sit and rattle on its first thread keeping most of the vibrated fuel at bay...sort of speak.
Check vented fuel caps.