# Snow Thrower Troubleshooting Help **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096 "2012-01-29T17:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![evane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6bbea6/32.png) [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/1 "2012-01-29T17:21:45Z")
My snow thrower has a issue as of late where it doesn’t like to stay running, it will start up fine and run fine for a bit but soon as I start trying to chew threw snow it will start to spudder then finally die. It has fresh oil, fresh gas, new spark plug, what should I look at next, something tells me it is a issue of either running to rich or lean but no clue who to determine that. It is a Craftsman 24" that is maybe 6 years old, it was given to me so not sure the exact age. If needed I can probaly dig up the manual with the exact model. ---
**Author:** ![1QIKZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/1qikz/32/6112_2.png) [@1QIKZ](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1QIKZ)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/2 "2012-01-29T17:41:13Z")
What snow could you possibly be “chewing” through this year. Sorry, disgruntled snowmobiler. Did you check to see if fuel filter / lines are clear? ---
**Author:** ![fiend540](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bcef8e/32.png) [@fiend540](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/fiend540)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/3 "2012-01-29T17:41:47Z")
You probably need to clean the carb. Get a can of carb cleaner, take the bowl off and clean it as well as the float and the needle. Just pay attention to how it came apart and putting it back together will be super easy. ---
**Author:** ![BOBBYGRV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BOBBYGRV](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/BOBBYGRV)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/4 "2012-01-29T17:43:32Z")
I had this problem and I realized that I didn’t have the proper lever engaged and it kept stalling right as I would try chewing through snow…I had honestly never used a snow blower before I bought my house. ---
**Author:** ![jabbu](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jabbu/32/7446_2.png) [@jabbu](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jabbu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/5 "2012-01-29T17:48:04Z")
New air filter then some seafoam ---
**Author:** ![Jagermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jagermeister](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jagermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/6 "2012-01-29T17:57:20Z")
I bet it’s a carb issue. ---
**Author:** ![evane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6bbea6/32.png) [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/7 "2012-01-29T18:42:01Z")
The carb exterior is pretty rusty wonder if it would be advantageous to just get a replacement from sears parts direct. ---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ---------- So correction I have a 26" and the Craftsman model is a 585886260 and the engine is a Tecumseh HMSK90. ---
**Author:** ![Hass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Hass](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Hass)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/8 "2012-01-29T20:05:56Z")
carb cleaner (seafoam works great) if you’re lazy, or else take it apart and clean it… Or replace it. Have you tried leaving it running to make sure it just doesn’t coincidentally die when you push it up to the snow? Or only when you put it under load? I once had some \*\*\*\* blocking my fuel line on a JD 170 Tractor… It would cause it to randomly die… Would run fine for a little while, then die. Final solution (after many different attempts) was blow air through the fuel line at the filter back to the tank… ran great ever since. I was hoping that whatever was fudging it up would get caught in the filter when it got sucked back through… Haven’t had any problems yet. Ran all season just fine. ---
**Author:** ![mechanicalmadness](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mechanicalmadness/32/5022_2.png) [@mechanicalmadness](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/mechanicalmadness)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/9 "2012-01-30T03:30:42Z")
Clean your carb if you already haven’t. Snowblower carbs are pretty simple creatures. I don’t know about your snowblower, but mine has a adjustment screw at the bottom of the carb bowl that allows me to adjust the fuel mixture. If cleaning the carb doesn’t solve your problems try adjusting the fuel mixture. I also personally never run anything but 89 octane in my 4 stroke small engines and 93octane in my 2 strokes. ---
**Author:** ![Jagermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jagermeister](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jagermeister)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/10 "2012-01-30T04:51:53Z")
I have same engine. I just replaced the carb and fixed my issue. Found it on amazon for $40. Rebuild would have been $20 in parts plus my time, so I went knew. ---
**Author:** ![jimmyfloyd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jimmyfloyd/32/3077_2.png) [@jimmyfloyd](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jimmyfloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/11 "2012-01-30T07:39:18Z")
B12 Chemtool is great for cleaning the carbs on small engines. Comes in a spray and a pour can. it can be poured in with the gas too to help clean the lines when it’s running, and the spray is good for cleaning out the carb if you want to pull the float bowl off. Usually gummed up gas causing restrictions is the biggest issue with not staying running of you’ve address the rest of those items already. If you can find a cheap Carb replacement for yours, that’s usually the easiest and will solve most issues. ---
**Author:** ![Quattro\_Krant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ac91a4/32.png) [@Quattro\_Krant](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Quattro_Krant)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/12 "2012-02-01T08:35:03Z")
I had an issue similar to yours. My Ariens would run like a raped ape but as soon as I engaged the auger, fucker would start to run like shit and then die. I smashed it, I threw shit at it, swore at it, and even rocked it to the point of getting it off the ground a good amount. That really didn’t fix the issue. Then I calmed down and figured out that when I engaged the auger the cable for the auger had slipped out of its guide and was getting jammed up in the start switch wires causing it to die. I zip tied it out of the way and called it fixed. That was 3 years ago and it’s been fine since. ---
**Author:** ![dftsilvia](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/dftsilvia/32/7447_2.png) [@dftsilvia](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/dftsilvia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/13 "2012-02-01T10:52:59Z")
you just need to take the carb apart and clean it. sounds easy but its not, there is a little hole by the jet that always gets clogged n causes the issue ur having. and snow throwers dont have air filters for the idiot that said that ---
**Author:** ![jabbu](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jabbu/32/7446_2.png) [@jabbu](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/jabbu)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/14 "2012-02-01T12:13:47Z")
> [@dftsilvia](#): > > you just need to take the carb apart and clean it. sounds easy but its not, there is a little hole by the jet that always gets clogged n causes the issue ur having. > > and snow throwers dont have air filters for the idiot that said that lol your right, i was thinking what i did to troubleshoot my mower having a similar issue. ps fu ---
**Author:** ![1QIKZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/1qikz/32/6112_2.png) [@1QIKZ](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/1QIKZ)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/15 "2012-02-01T14:10:22Z")
^Now the threads getting interesting. ---
**Author:** ![evane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6bbea6/32.png) [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/snow-thrower-troubleshooting-help/220096/16 "2012-02-02T08:13:14Z")
Thanks for the reply’s, more than likely is the Carb, when i get a chance to tear it apart I will provide a update. Though its probaly moot at this point since I doubt we will get much more snow. Watched a few video’s for cleaning them for my engine (or similar ones) and the hardest part will be cleaning the little holes, wish I had a compressor to shoot air into it.