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hey guys.... i had a leaking carb, got the carb rebuild kit, and it seems to have fixed it. but, now that i have it running and we got some snow, i tried it (never used it before). it boggs out when i hit snow. even if its just a little snow. it clogged up the chute a bunch of times too. i had it idleing and driving great. but not throwing. and the few times i got it to throw it was usually about 1 foot, but got up to about 4 feet max

heres a video... sorry for the length and for talking about the carb too much (video was made for a different thread at first)
Ariens Snowblower :: 100_1142.mp4 video by tonyvisone - Photobucket

I see your problem right off. I see you didn't remove the soft plug on the outside of the carburetor. It looks different then the replacement which I see laying in your pile of parts. Under this soft plug you will find some very small passages that are plugged. That is a problem with the tecumseh carburetor and the reason they give you new soft pluges in the kit.

reynoldston said:

I see your problem right off. I see you didn't remove the soft plug on the outside of the carburetor. It looks different then the replacement which I see laying in your pile of parts. Under this soft plug you will find some very small passages that are plugged. That is a problem with the tecumseh carburetor and the reason they give you new soft pluges in the kit.

Click to expand...

sounds promising, but can u explain more specifically as im not sure what you mean....
i used most of the carb kit parts.... what soft plug are you talking of?
incase it helps, heres a couple pics i have (from before the rebuild)


and in this one u can see that metal plate i didnt take off becuase i wasnt sure how.. it kinda ugly lookin and was worse before cleaning/scraping

Did you remove & replace that rusty welsh plug in your last picture... ?
I noticed it in one of your video's... :smile:KennyV

reynoldston- still wondering what you mean by "didn't remove the soft plug on the outside of the carburetor"

and kennyv- not sure what you mean either by "welsh plug" so i labelled that pic so you can tell me....

I see two soft plugs. No big deal to remove both of them. One was by the low speed air adjustment screw and the other was in the last picture. From the looks of the carburetor it looks like you should disassemble everything you can on it and give it a good overnight socking. Then blow out every thing with compressed air and clean all the small openings with small tag wire. It is hard to diagnose a engine off a computer picture. Another thing you might want to check is valve adjustment. They should be .006+ exhaust .012+ intake. No big job to check seeing you have the carburetor off anyways. Remove the cover with the two small screws in back of the carburetor and check the valves at TDC. If the valves are tight that isn't too bad of a job on that engine.

where are the soft plugs you are talking about? i cleaned the carb twice already and installed most of the rebuild parts. it idles and drive fine with no valve ticking if that tells you anything.

also, im wondering what parts A, E and F are

is there a manual for THIS carb anywhere?

One soft plug is A and seeing you don't show the other one I think it is E. Do you know where the low speed air adjustment screw is? It is right above that. Your valves will not make a clicking noise when tight and tight valves make for a bad running engine and on top of that it is a good way to burn the valve seats then you run them tight. Like I said it is a small job to check them seeing you have the carburetor off anyways so why not. Remove two screws, put engine on TDC, slide a feeler between the valve stems and lifters. Should take less then 5 minutes. Also looking at your picture it looks like you have a bad carburetor flange gasket. If you have a vacuum leak at this point you will never get the snowblower to run right.

tonyvisone said:

is there a manual for THIS carb anywhere?

Click to expand...

I think reynoldston has you well covered... The welsh plug I was referring to is your #A...
If you go to this site:
Small Engine, Lawn Mower, Snowthrower Troubleshooting, Repairs and Safety
Scroll down to the Tecumseh carb group... when you see your carb, click that link... :smile:KennyV

reynodston- thanks. ill check the valves and clean the carb more

kenny- awesome sight

how do i remove and install those welch plugs? pry out and hit it?

tonyvisone said:

...
how do i remove and install those welch plugs? pry out and hit it?

Click to expand...

Drill a small hole in it screw a pointy screw into the hole and pry it out...
after cleaning things up, push the new one in and seal it,on the Outside Only, with any gasoline alcohol resistant sealer... KennyV

ok ill give it a go 2moro or tuesday. thanks

hey again guys.........

striped the carb down again, except the ENTIRE thing this time....
the other needle was dirty. most other stuff seemed good
got the welch plugs out, they seemed clean inside but i cleaned everything more with a wire bristle, carb cleaner and an air gun

i ran into a few quick questions, mainly about the float height (seems WAY too high)
and something else but i 4get what.

made another video, sorry lol

Ariens Snowblower :: Finalarienscarbcleanvideo.mp4 video by tonyvisone - Photobucket

Good video... The ridge on the needle can be a problem...
The kill wire when not attached Could have shorted out and not allowed it to start...
Make sure you don't have any air leaks when reassembling... :smile:KennyV

kenny- thanks. maybe ill use the old needle for now since it is perfect condition.
for the kill wire, i just realized the problem. stupid mistake, but when i put it together i grounded it on the carb manifold bolt thinking it just needed to be grouned, before i realized how that switch worked
ill be careful of leaks
also, what is your take on the float height?
i got the new welch plugs in today, but i dont have any fuel proof sealer. how necessary is it? the videos i saw never mentioned it. let me know.

I had always set the top float parallel with the top of the carb...

As to the sealer... You can use paint or what ever you may have... there is a possibility you will not need anything, if it is air tight it will be Okay... :smile:KennyV

The global answer, one I have pursued with the various snow blower makers, is to abandon internal combustion motors in favor of battery electric power. It's happening "wholesale" with rotary mowing. Electric power systems are ENORMOUSLY simpler. In most cases simpler = more reliable. There is an Ariens battery electric 24" 2 stage blower as it so happens. Actually, it's the only battery electric on the market that I'm aware of. I imagine that what has kept the snow blower market so far behind the mower market is the cold weather performance of recheargable batteries.
I finally purchased my first snow blower this year after 28 years at this house in the Chicago suburbs. Having been firmly convinced about the prefer-ability of battery electric over internal combustion powered yard care equipment before then by ~ 7 years of happy use of a Neuton battery electric lawn mower. I opted for a corded electric since the Ariens is way bigger than I need, even for my 80' drive to the backyard garage on my 60' x 120' suburban lot and way more expensive than I could justify to myself at $1400-$2000.
:licking:There is what appears to be a growing plethora of corded electric snow blowers on the market today. I bought a Toro Power Curve 15 amp, 18" unit. It throws the snow perfectly for a single stage of any power form. The problem is the cord. It REALLY gets in the way of most efficient running pattern for the space to be cleared. I have pleaded with every maker I could contact for production of a battery electric (per use removable battery to accommodate the issue of deplettive nature of cold weather storage of rechargeable batteries). The solution exists with at least 50% of the battery electric mowers on the market as they have per use removable battery packs and equal power to that required in a single stage blower.