# Honda HS720 quit for no reason?



## buffettck (Jan 4, 2017)

I cleared driveways/sidewalks for four houses, including my own and at the end of the last driveway (mine), I left the blower running and ran back to my garage to get the shovel for some quick "detail work" around my front walkway and steps. About two minutes later, the blower started surging and quit exactly like it does when I shut off the fuel valve and run it dry. 

Still had way over 1/2 tank of gas, so that wasn't it. I also run 100% pure gas and it's always treated with Stabil, so it shouldn't be a clogged carb. The blower is practically brand new, too. Just got it at the beginning of January and this is probably the 8th or 9th time I've used it. Oil level was good, too, and I use Mobil 1 5W-30 since that's what my Honda car uses and I've never had a problem using it in my Honda lawnmower.

It started again on the very first pull and seemed to run fine for about five more minutes because that's all the snow I had left to blow. I shut off the fuel valve and let it quit like I always do when putting it up.

Any ideas as to what could have made it randomly quit like that? Can blowers overheat? The outside temp was 25F, so that shouldn't have been a problem. Should I shut the engine off if I'm not going to be using it for more than a couple of minutes or is it okay to just let it run? This is my first snowblower and my very first winter ever using one, so I'm a rank noob. My HS720 has been an excellent snowblower so far. Even my neighbors with big ol' honkin' two stages were impressed with how far it throws snow, so I really hope nothing is wrong with it. Thanks for any help!


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## Prime (Jan 11, 2014)

Probably nothing serious. A few drops of water in the fuel maybe. Happens in the winter even with extreme care. Sometimes I have left gear running on low rpm while doing some chore and have had them stall no real reason. I wouldn't be too concerned.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Just to understand, does it have a throttle control? Or does it always run at high-speed? I'm guessing it always run at high-speed (I don't notice a throttle lever in HD's pics). Which would make me expect that it should be able to sit like that for an entire tank of fuel (it's not a case of idling a little too slowly). 

Did you remove the gas cap after it died, but before you restarted it? If so, that *could* be related, helping explain why it restarted OK. 

Gas caps have vents, to allow air into the tank. As you use up fuel, air needs to be allowed into the tank, to equalize the pressure. But if this vent stops working for some reason, you will gradually create a vacuum in the tank, as fuel is drained out of it. This will eventually starve the engine, as fuel can't keep flowing out. 

If you remove the gas cap (to check the level, for instance), this allows air in, and you're OK again for a while. 

So if it happens again, you could see if it will restart and run again. If it still won't behave, remove the cap and reinstall, and try again. If that fixes it, you probably have a bad cap vent. In the short term, you can leave the gas cap loose, to finish clearing that day, for instance. The cap would need to be replaced.


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## buffettck (Jan 4, 2017)

Ah, the ol' pesky gas cap! 

But, seriously, great suggestion. Yes, I did open the gas cap to check the fuel since it sure acted like it ran out of fuel. After all, I'd cleared four houses worth of driveways and sidewalks and never shut it off once until it quit on its own. I'm still very new to using this snowblower, so I figured it ran out of gas since I have no idea how long a tank lasts and I didn't top it off after the last use. I was really surprised to see way more than 1/2 a tank left. It really sips fuel. Like I said, it fired right up after removing/replacing the gas cap. And, yes, it's a single stage that runs full bore all the time. All the bar does is engage the auger paddles. I wonder what could clog a cap vent since there was no snow on it and no snow was coming down to have frozen on it.


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## buffettck (Jan 4, 2017)

Next time if/when it quits on its own again, I'll have to remember to try to start it before opening the gas cap. I just went ahead and ordered another cap anyway since it wasn't even seven bucks for the whole cap assembly with the cap, gasket and sponge. Can these caps be non-destructively taken apart and cleaned?


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