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You are here: Home / Snow Blowers / Snowblower Won’t Start? Try These Tips

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Snowblower Won’t Start? Try These Tips

Last Updated September 1, 2022 By Christina

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Just like a car, your Snowblower won’t work if it doesn’t have sufficient fuel required to fulfill its operation. As a matter of fact, before starting your snowblower, the first thing you should always check should be the level of gas present in your snowblower.

man working on a snowblower

Apart from this, since the snowblower has been stored during the entire warm season, which is more than six months, depending on your locality, it is advisable to change the available fuel.

You should also ensure that the gas present in the tank is not dirty or containing any form of effluents. The notion behind this argument can be based on the fact that the snowblower may have sufficient fuel, but because of dirt particles, certain parts of the snowblower engine may get damaged. You can easily tell if the gas present in the snowblower tank is clean or dirty by simply taking a look at the machine’s carburetor.

In instances where the gas is dirty, you may spot varnish-like coating on the carburetor. Apart from this, you must also ensure that you have installed a fuel stabilizer that functions by preventing the loss of fuel volatility. If fuel has lost its volatility, you will be required to drain the fuel system through the carburetor. Additionally, you can switch to an electric snowblower if fuel draining tends to be time-consuming.

Table of Contents

  • Check and Clean Your Carburetor
  • Check the Valves and the Switches
  • Clean and Replace Worn-out Spark Plugs
  • Check the Fuel Line
  • A Faulty Electric Starter or Rewind Starter
  • Prime Your Engine

Check and Clean Your Carburetor

The purpose of a carburetor is to combine fuel and air with the sole purpose been to facilitate combustion. Therefore, if the carburetor gets clogged, then there is a high possibility that it will not function as required. You can solve this clogging issue by removing the carburetor from the snowblower.

carburetor for snow blower

However, this can be a daunting task, especially to those who are not well-versed in assembling or dissembling of snowblowers. The good thing, however, is the fact that in most machines, the carburetor is located below the air filter. If you are having a hard time accessing the carburetor, you can also read the manual for simplified understanding.

Once you have gained access to the carburetor, clean it by using a carb cleaner. A carb cleaner is a solvent that comes in an aerosol can. You should spray the carb cleaner directly into the carburetor’s air-intake valve, which is only reachable after removing the air filter connected to the carburetor.

Check the Valves and the Switches

Before starting the snowblower, always ensure that the valves and the switches are in their correct starting positions. However, the position of the valves and the switches can differ based on the brand of the snowblower, and therefore, it is advisable to read the manual for the brand of snowblower you are using before deciding whether or not the valves and the switches are in their correct positions.

Different snowblowers have different manuals and different operating systems, hence making it imperative for the user to understand the manual. For instance, in some snowblowers, the manual may request you to keep the throttle in a “high” position and keep the fuel shut-off valve in “full” position. In other brands of snowblowers, images, rather than words, are used for guidance and operational purposes.

Therefore, it is critical to ensure that you have read and understood your snowblower manual before operating it.

Clean and Replace Worn-out Spark Plugs

If you have worn-out spark plugs, there is a high chance that your snowblower won’t work. Spark plugs function by producing the spark required to start the engine of the snowblower. If the spark plugs are faulty, then no sparks will be produced once you have switched on the snowblower.

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To avoid this issue, you can either clean or replace the worn-out or dirty spark plugs. You can do this by removing the plugs from their sockets and inspect their porcelain sleeves for the presence or absence of cracks. If the plugs are cracked, replace them with immediate effect. If they are not cracked, then there is a high chance that their failure to produce sparks is based on the fact that they are dirty.

You can clean them by using a commercial carburetor cleaner with the help of a wire brush. When cleaning the plugs, always ensure that you are removing carbon deposits which build-up around the plugs. If after the cleaning process the snowblower still won’t work, then it is time you replaced them with new ones.

Check the Fuel Line

The fuel line is the hose that runs from the fuel tank to the machine’s carburetor. In a typical operating snowblower, this hose should be pliable and flexible at all times. However, due to constant use and the ordinary wear and tear circumstances, the hose may harden, turn brittle, and crack, instances that can facilitate the leaking of fuel.

With constant leakage, sufficient fuel may fail to reach the engine and the carburetor of the snowblower, hence making it hard for it to start when ignited. If this hose is hardened, cracked, or kinked, it is time you replaced it with a new one.

A Faulty Electric Starter or Rewind Starter

Depending on whether you are using an electric or manual snowblower, you may either rely on an electric starter or a rewind starter to get your snowblower running. If these starters are faulty, there is a high chance that the snowblower will not start as required.

When you switch on your snow blower, an electric current is sent to the spark plug which then facilitates the continued operation of the snowblower. If the electric starter is defective, then it is possible that no voltage will be released to the spark plug and neither will your snowblower keep running.

The only solution for a faulty starter is to replace it with a new one. In such a situation, professional guidance is recommended since not all starters can be used in all snowblowers.

Prime Your Engine

Snowblowers are designed to work during cold seasons. However, it is during such seasons that they tend to become slower in their functionality. Depending on the severity of the cold, most snow blowers can easily function when primed.

For you to prime your snowblower, you will be required to press the flexible primer bulb button which is located close to the carburetor. Always ensure that you press the bulb around three to five times to force a small amount of fuel to enter the carburetor. Immediately after you have primed the snowblower, ignite it.

This troubleshooting process is essential because it can save you time and money that could have been spent on trying to understand where the fault lies. Additionally, it is a common occurrence for the snowblower to fail to start in the first attempt, and therefore, it is highly advisable to re-do the priming process at least three times before considering the next move.

If none of the above-mentioned solutions solve your snowblower issues, then it is highly advisable to seek help from a qualified and fully certified technician. The technician will help troubleshoot your snowblower, and ensure that it gets back to full operation in no time.

Snowblower Won’t Start? Try These Tips
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Filed Under: Snow Blowers

About Christina

Hey there and thanks for coming to our site. We love doing projects in our backyard. We do many of the projects ourselves and it's always a work in progress.

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