Snowthrower won't starts when cold

[K Man]

Two years old small Sear(5hp)snowthrower wouldn't starts when cold ,took it back in the house for 10 minutes it started right away in the frist pull,gas is new and i have put antifrzee(Heet)in it ,where to look at for this problem?

[Klm]

All snowblowers are aircooled. Your solution, warming it inside for an instant start, is what I did too during the recent cold snap (-20 to -30 deg C) accompanied by continuous snow. The only other thing to do is to change the spark plug, and in summer, give the carburetor a good cleaning. Stick with the recommended gas-lube mix. Too much lube fouls the spark plug.

[vb53]

If your's is a single stage, I have a similar unit and was having the same problem. Another forum suggested a few things that I tried and seem to work.

1. When you are done clearing snow, let the machine run for several minutes at idle. the heat will help dry out the machine. If you put it away wet, the moisture will freeze and lock up several areas of the machine. Especially the starter spool (rope start). I actually opened the system up and gave the whole thing a liberal spraying with silicone spray which also seems to help. Don't use WD-40 as it will freeze too.

1. I keep the thing as close to the house as I can. It's not much but it helps.

2. Clean out the carburetor. Sounds like a Spring project to me though..

Good luck.

[Robert Barr]

In a pinch, I use ether. Rarely fails.

You can also pr> Two years old small Sear(5hp)snowthrower wouldn't starts when cold

[Yaofeng]

A week ago after the 10 inch snow in NJ, I had the same problem with my Murray 5hp. I bought it in '94(?) following the infamous 18 incher which paralized the State. But used it no more than 5 time since.

My solution was to heat the engine with a hair dryer. It started right up after warming the engine.

[Dan]

Amen to the clean out the carburetor suggestion. At the very least, run the damned thing dry of fuel. I have a John Deere 5 horse I bought around '98 to replace a Tired Toro. Have used it sporadically, living in central Ohio. Didn't need it for about 3 years (2 anyway), until last winter, when we got about a foot. Put in new gas, wouldn't start. Would run for a spurt on ether, then die. So I pulled the carb. Absolutely caked with the most miserable dried on blue 2 cycle oil crud. Now I've cleaned quite a number of filthy automotive carbs in my time, and gumout wouldn't even touch this stuff. Got a bucket of carb dip at the auto parts store (after paying some teenagers to shovel the drive) & soaked the damned thing for hours, blew all the passages (or so I thought), looked fine. Put it all together, didn't try it out until last week (didn't want to get more gas in there if I wasn't going to use it for another year. Would run briefly on the primer bulb, then die. Pulled the main jet at the bottom, it was STILL plugged. Had to carefully work a toothpick & fine needle through the jet to open it up, then spray with gumout, put it all back together & it started. This spring I'll run it dry then remove the bowl & spray it all out with carb cleaner & let it dry before reassembling.

BTW this machine has a 120V electric starter, only way to go IMHO. The hell with that yanking a cord at 2 below!!! ;-)

Dan

[RB]

I use Mobil One and find that because it doesn't thicken at low temperatures it is a bit easier to start the engine at below zero temperatures.

RB

K Man wrote: