Tecumseh engine on snowblower will not start

D2hornets58

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I have a Noma snow blower with an 8hp tecumseh engine. The model number on the engine is: HMSK80 155480S. Two winters ago I used this snowblower many times and it ran great. Lat year around this time I started it and it ran very rough. It would shutoff and not idle good. I ended up not using it at all last year. I want to get it going again to use for walkways. I drained the gas today and put in fresh gas. It would not start at all. Any suggestions of what i should try?
Thanks
 

91c1500

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Maybe just old gas/gunk in the carburetor. If you're confident in your skills, take it completely apart and clean it with choke and carb cleaner.

It's really not difficult to tear apart a carburetor, just some small parts that are pretty self explanatory as to where they go.
 

D2hornets58

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I am having trouble getting to the carb. I cannot get off the metal cover thats above the carb. There is a know that has a rod that goes through it and im not sure how to disconect it.
 

possum

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I f it has two year old gas in it the fuel system is going to have to be cleaned. If you cannot get the carb cover off then might be a good idea to take it to a tech. One way or another the fuel has to come out of the fuel tank, the carb, and the fuel lines. If the lines are still good inside then they can be cleaned. The primer bulb if still good can sometimes be cleaned and reused. The fuel bowl can sometimes be cleaned and reused. The rest of the parts in the carb can sometimes be cleaned and reused and sometimes need replaced. Clean the fuel tank out good or the gunk will be right back into your cleaned up carb. You will pretty much know what you have once the bowl is removed from the carb.
 

D2hornets58

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I f it has two year old gas in it the fuel system is going to have to be cleaned. If you cannot get the carb cover off then might be a good idea to take it to a tech. One way or another the fuel has to come out of the fuel tank, the carb, and the fuel lines. If the lines are still good inside then they can be cleaned. The primer bulb if still good can sometimes be cleaned and reused. The fuel bowl can sometimes be cleaned and reused. The rest of the parts in the carb can sometimes be cleaned and reused and sometimes need replaced. Clean the fuel tank out good or the gunk will be right back into your cleaned up carb. You will pretty much know what you have once the bowl is removed from the carb.

OK i drained the fuel tank but how would you recomend i clean it. Is there anything i should put in it. Also do you think I should try to find a carb rebuild kit for it?
Thanks
 

natenkiki2004

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Let me tell you what I did with my 5HP Tecumseh to get it going. I pulled the carb from the engine entirely and soaked it in Simple Green. Check on it every so often just to make sure it doesn't mess with the brass/aluminum. Soaking for a day or three will loosen things up. Then go through all the holes and passages with blasts of carb cleaner to push anything else out. You can get a carb kit to replace the rubbers but don't use the metal pieces, that was a huge mistake for me. Long story short, my engine seized because the needle was slightly different, not even enough to notice unless you compared them side by side. Just use the needles, tube and any other metal pieces that came with your engine, only replace the rubber gaskets.

Once you have the carb clean, set the needles set to their default value. My HS50 was 1.5 turns out on the main and 1 turn out on the idle. Here's the service manual that should apply to yours if you need it:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/464376/small_engine/Bolens Snowblower/Tecumseh Service Manual.pdf

Run Sta-Bil or Seafoam in the fuel to help prevent this issue again. Avoid ethanol as well. Good luck.
 

twinfords

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I am having trouble getting to the carb. I cannot get off the metal cover thats above the carb. There is a know that has a rod that goes through it and im not sure how to disconect it.

the knob should just pull off that the metal cover is under.
 

tybilly

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im confused,the different inlet needle caused seizure?..ran it too lean?
 

natenkiki2004

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I think it ran too rich most of the time but it could have ran too lean just before seizure. I always had hard starting and difficulty adjusting. Popped the original needles and stuff back in the carb and it runs like a champ and hasn't seized again.
 

D2hornets58

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the knob should just pull off that the metal cover is under.

The knob has a hook that goes through a loop on the other side of the cover. I cannot get the hook out of the loop to take off the cover.
 
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