Bought a new snow thrower last year, and have had this problem since day one.
The engine is a Tecumseh HMSK 80-110 on a Troy Bilt Storm snow thrower. It starts just fine, but pops out of the exhaust as it's running. Then at times, it will run very rough, with the idle going up and down, then stall. I find that if I play with the choke, I can usually keep it from stalling.
So, it looks like some kind of gas flow problem or maybe a timing problem. I plan on replacing the spark plug, but have no clue if there are any adjustments I can make on the carb (or how to get the cover off! This is a Troy Bilt Thrower).
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Was it brand new, as is in you brought it home, got it out of the box, and put it together or was it lying around the store or maybe outside in front of the store? If it was laying around the store there is a good chance that it had been at least cranked up before you bought it...may have some crystalization in the carb which has freezed up the float. I am not sure your carb has a float or not, but I am willing to bet it does. See if you can't get into the carb and see if it is clean or not. I had the same kind of problem on one of my mowers last year and more recently on my power washer. Both had Tecumseh carbs and they needed to be cleaned out. The power washer was only a year old and had sat awhile and the float was stuck.
This was happening when it was new last year. I bought it in October, and the first snow was in Dec. Yeah, I should have addresses it before now (winter starting) but you know how that goes sometimes.
I'll give that a try. Is there anything I can merely add to the gas to clean the carb? I'm handy with this stuff, but not to the detail of cleaning a carb.
One thing I totally forgot to mention. I recall this happening last year. When priming the carb, I found that sometimes some gas would come out from the carb area. I know this probably means there's an air leak or something.
Sorry for not mentioning it sooner before replies, but it happened last year and just slipped my mind. I have to take the cover off the engine (the cover that Troy Bilt puts on) and see if I can see where the gas is coming from. I'll report back on this.
Update: I got the cover off and started it up. It runs fine at first, but had to play with the choke to keep it going. It will run ok after it's kept going with the right choke setting, except for some popping out of the exaust. I noticed a few things:
o In a previous post, I mentioned that gas comes out of the carb area when using the primer. I find that the gas comes out of the air intake (correct term??) after about 5 pushes. This may be normal, but I don't see it mentioned in the manual.
o One time, the engine, just sitting there idling, the idle would start to increase and decrease, and then the engine stalls. If I prime the carb again, it starts again on the first pull. While it was stalling I quickly adjusted the choke to see if it would make a difference. No difference at all. Almost as if the carb was not getting any air (not the case) or the carb wasn't getting any gas. Just like I turned off the key.
o I notice that if I run the engine at full throttle, it runs a lot rougher (pops out of the exhaust) than if I were to run it something a little slower than full. With the right choke adj at a slower RPM, the engine seems to run ok (less popping). So, this may be my fix for now, but shouldn't be this way.
o According the Tecumseh owner's manual, there's a bowl drain at the bottom of the bowl. I notice this collects small amounts of gas as it's running. Could it be leaking air into the carb?
Let me ask this. To clean the bowl, do I just need to remove the nut at the bottom of the bowl to remove it? I'd also like to try to set the carb settings to, I believe, 1 1/2 turns, but I have no clue where the screws are. I see one that looks like it has a grey cap on it.
Took the bowl off, cleaned out some residue. Looked like tiny yellow globs. Replaced the plug from Champion RJ19LM to a Champion 5861 which is their EZ start plug. I thought that since the engine was missing, it might be the plug. Started up, and seemed to run a little better. The real test will be out in the snow for extended useage. I think that as long as it doesn't give me too much trouble, I'll get through the winter with it running it at a slightly slower RPM. From what I've read, that may be a sign of a mixture problem. Still, the blower is operational with it. It's a matter of, will it stay working, or stall out on me on extended use.
If anyone has any other suggestions from the information I've given, let me know.
To me popping in the exhaust indicates that the intake valve is still open when the gas ignites. Maybe my idea of popping is different. I am thinking of a small backfire.
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