# My First CL Find



## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

So today I entered the low end of the fix'er upper pool. I would say restoration, but that might be going a little far and an insult to a few really talented guys around here.

I have been searching CL for about a month now and finally pulled the trigger today. I bought what looks like a 20+/- year old Bolens 322. According to the owner it hasn't been started in 3 years. The woman was asking $50, but after it wouldn't start in her driveway, even she thought that was crazy. I initially offered $10 for it, but she said at that price she would give it to her Veteran neighbor for parts. However, her neighbor quickly lost out when I offered $20. It didn't take long. 

The first thing I did when I got home was to add some fuel laced with Sea Foam. After pulling the cord a few times and playing with the choke, I got it started. It definitely wasn't smooth, I had to play with the choke even after it was running for a few minutes, but in the end it was RUNNING! :yahoo:

I posted some pictures below. There is definitely some rust, but not much. I think the biggest thing is just the carburetor; it obviously needs a good cleaning. I've never cleaned a carb. before, so any tips would really help. Also, if anyone notices anything from the pictures, offer it up.

If anyone can help me out with how old it is and where I can find a manual, I would really appreciate it. Here's the information I have:

Bolens 322
Production Lot: 601906
Serial: 0301807G
Date Code: 11G


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## guilateen02 (Nov 23, 2014)

Can't help you on Identify year or manual. But my advice is check out donyboy on youtube. Also be very careful and attentive on disassembly and assembly of carb. Don't rush it. Depending on model there can springs, seals, and other small pieces that can easily go missing without even you noticing. Good luck and congrats on the new to you machine.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Are you married? If so, is she cool with this?
I'm just warning you that it always starts out by just picking one snow blower up from CL because it seems like a good deal. That was my story also, and many others here. After I picked up my first one I just kept monitoring the ads to make sure I really got a good deal, then you find another. It only needs a little TLC you say...and I can probably sell the first one for a good profit now thats its all up and running...
I'm just warning you that it starts out like this.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Hold on.
Is this a 2 stroke?
Did you mix oil with the gas/seafoam you mentioned?


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## Rob711 (Feb 5, 2015)

Good point bout the 2stroke! Your neighbor down the block can help you. Too bad he doesnt know where you are. Hmmmm if only there was some was of displaying that information.


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

dbert said:


> Hold on.
> Is this a 2 stroke?
> Did you mix oil with the gas/seafoam you mentioned?



Yes, it's a 2 stroke. 

It was a gas/oil mix with a bit of Sea Foam. It's fine, don't worry.


dbert....I know exactly what you are talking about. I recently purchased a "new to me" Simplicity Prestige. I bought it because I've always wanted a top of the line tractor but knew I could never really get "the boss" to agree to the expense. Well, to make a long story short, after only putting in a few hundred dollars, I put it up on CL for a dream price. I had some interest, but then decided to pull it down because I really like the tractor. I probably could have made about $1K on it fairly easily.

This single stage is certainly going to help satisfy that urge in me to tinker started by that Prestige, and if I decide to sell it, great. If I don't, then I'm going to call it my "Voice Controlled" snow blower.....as in I'm going to have my 13 year old son get first crack at using it. :wink:


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Smolenski7 said:


> It was a gas/oil mix with a bit of Sea Foam. It's fine, don't worry.


Ah, ok, good.


Smolenski7 said:


> I'm going to call it my "Voice Controlled" snow blower.....as in I'm going to have my 13 year old son get first crack at using it. :wink:


I had one of those. I still do, it just doesn't seem to work as well as it did when he was 13. 

I'm not finding much on that Bolens.
Get some pics of that 2 stroke when you get the cover off.

This is the best kept secret on carb repair.
Small Engine, Lawn Mower, Snowthrower Troubleshooting, Repairs and Safety


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## sj701 (Jan 23, 2014)

Rare engine there, it's a Briggs and Stratton 2 stroke. Not too many of those made it very long they had issues with the cylinder bore and pistons scoring due to the plating of the cylinder failing. Briggs gave up on them after afew years.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

The second best kept secret of carb repair/cleaning:










Run you about $10 and will fit just about any orifice in any carb on the planet. Doesn't show too good in the picture but the wires are all spiral knurled, really gets the junk out of there.

Highly recommended.


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

Ditto on getting one of those carb cleaning tools. 

Your camera will be one of your best friends too. Take pictures of the carb set up before you start taking it all apart from the engine. That way you've got the pictures to refer to when putting it back together. We've all read the posts by folks who forgot where things go when it comes time to put it all back together.


Most importantly...have fun.


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

sj701 said:


> Rare engine there, it's a Briggs and Stratton 2 stroke. Not too many of those made it very long they had issues with the cylinder bore and pistons scoring due to the plating of the cylinder failing. Briggs gave up on them after afew years.


Good eye sj701. Most people think Tecumseh was the only 2-cycle engine supplier. Here is a link to the Briggs service manual if anyone is interested.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12502267/B%26S%20Service%20Manuals/17_MS7879TwoCycleSnowEngine.pdf


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

Grunt said:


> Good eye sj701. Most people think Tecumseh was the only 2-cycle engine supplier. Here is a link to the service manual if anyone is interested.
> 
> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12502267/B&S Service Manuals/17_MS7879TwoCycleSnowEngine.pdf



Thanks for the manual. I'm not totally sure it's the same engine, but I definitely referred to it when working on the carburetor today.


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

sj701 said:


> Rare engine there, it's a Briggs and Stratton 2 stroke. Not too many of those made it very long they had issues with the cylinder bore and pistons scoring due to the plating of the cylinder failing. Briggs gave up on them after afew years.



Figures! I have to buy a machine that has an engine in it that most people have never heard of. It also has a carburetor without a bowl, I've never seen that before. Not sure if it is typical or not, but it's new to me.


Today was Day 1. Unfortunately it was not a success. I think I got a little lucky yesterday when I got home and the machine started right up, even though I had to play with the choke to keep her running. 

A little run down of what I did. I didn't have much time, so I really only disconnected the fuel tank and cleaned it out. After that I disassembled the carb. I tried to give it a good cleaning, but to be honest, I don't think it was all that dirty. I sprayed cleaner in every hole I could find, and threaded a very thin wire into all of those same holes just to clean anything that I couldn't see.

I'll post a few pictures that I took for reference tomorrow. I think you'll see that the carb was in good shape. I put it back together the same exact way that I found it. By the way the, I put the cup back on the spring.

The engine starts after a few pulls, but only runs for a few seconds and dies. It sounds like it's not getting any fuel. Are there any adjustments that I can make?


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Diaphragm carbs are used on a majority of 2-cycle chain saws, trimmers and etc. I have found that after years of use, the diaphragm becomes stiff and it will no longer flex to pump and regulate fuel flow. Replacing your diaphragm would?? likely fix the stalling issue you have. After searching for about an hour, I found two diaphragms, one of which should fit your carb.

I used engine model numbers 062030 or 062033 to find these.

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/diaphragm-p-360422.html

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/diaphragm-p-360421.html


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

I think maybe you nailed it Grunt, that's what I was clicking for too is a picture of that. Bad diaphragm = no go.

I've used ereplacementparts many times and have always been satisfied with the product and service.

Agreed the carb itself looks nice and clean.


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## dbert (Aug 25, 2013)

Yanmar Ronin said:


> I've used ereplacementparts many times and have always been satisfied with the product and service.


Not wanting to hijack, but
I just learned yesterday that ereplacementparts is 5.4 miles from my house.
I did I not know it was even on my side of the Mississippi?

Smolenski7
When I looked at the photos, I too was wondering about the condition of the diaphragm since they weren't included.


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

Diaphragm seems pretty flexible though, however, I've never done this before so I don't know. Before I go out to buy a $14 part for a $20 snow blower is it possible to:

1. Adjust the needle valve.

2. Could I have tightened the hinge lever's screw to tight? The manual says how to adjust the diaphragm hinge lever. What exactly does this do?


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## Grunt (Nov 11, 2013)

Smolenski7 said:


> Diaphragm seems pretty flexible though, however, I've never done this before so I don't know. Before I go out to buy a $14 part for a $20 snow blower is it possible to:
> 
> 1. Adjust the needle valve.
> 
> 2. Could I have tightened the hinge lever's screw to tight? The manual says how to adjust the diaphragm hinge lever. What exactly does this do?


1. I believe the needle valve is adjusted for best high speed performance, since these motors have no throttle control and run full speed. I have a Toro S200 with a diaphragm carb which only has one needle for adjustment also. Small cube carbs on trimmers and etc. usually have a high (H) and low (L) screw for adjustment.

2. I usually just snug the lever screw down and make sure the lever can move freely. Lever height is important to good operation. If the lever is to low, little or no fuel flow equals poor running or no start. If the lever is to high, the engine will flood or run to rich. The lever is opened by the diaphragm pulses and closed by the lever return spring.

I know the check valves on the cube carbs can be damaged beyond repair if high air pressure from a compressor or a piece of wire is poked through them when cleaning.

When the engine stalls out, do you still have spark and will the engine restart immediately? It probably would be a good idea to check the points under the flywheel (if your engine has them).

These are just opinions since I know nothing about Briggs 2-cycles. :smiley-confused009:


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

Day 2:

Today was much better than yesterday. It started right up this morning, without any adjustments, not sure why. However, it was not running great. I then adjusted the needle valve several times, fixed a leak that I forgot all about until I moved it and saw a few black spots on my garage floor (don't tell the boss), and cleaned the engine pretty well, but not great. While cleaning I took off compression release cover. It was black on the other side so I used a rag soaked in Sea Foam to clean it. I also made sure that the Sea Foam that I added to the gas ran through the engine for about 30 minutes.

Here are 2 pictures. You can sort-of see the cover that I removed above the spark plug. It's held on with 2 back screws.


















While it was running at one point I think a piece of carbon came shooting out of the muffler. It was red hot like a spark. I've never seen anything like that before, but it didn't seem to effect the engine at all, so I let it keep running. Is this a good thing, bad thing, or a no big deal thing?

I also noticed that when I was cleaning the spark plug that there seems to be a lot of build up in the cylinder. I have added Sea Foam directly into the intake of my Kohler CV23, however, I have never added it to a 2 cycle engine before. Is this safe? If so, do you guys suggest letting it soak over night, then starting the engine tomorrow? Or, do you just add it to the cylinder and start the engine immediately? How much Sea Foam do I use?


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

Found some information about this machine.

I called MTD customer service, they were very helpful. I received a manual pretty quickly. This will help a lot, especially now that I know the oil/gas ratio. I have been using a 50:1 mix, but the manual states that it requires 32:1. Not sure what the difference is, but I will be accommodating.

Also, I found that it was built somewhere between 1987 - 1991. They couldn't be any more specific than that.


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## Smolenski7 (Nov 24, 2010)

Well, the "restoration" (not really) of my Bolens 322 single stage is just about complete. I was lucky that with my first CL pick up's condition really wasn't too bad. It starts on the first pull and runs great.

1. The carburetor wasn't too gunked up, although it certainly started and ran smoother after I cleaned it. Also, adjusting the needle valve made a big difference. 

2. The whole fuel system was cleaned with Sea Foam, I think that really helped. I put a few ounces in the tank and ran the engine for a few minutes on several difference occasions. I then put about 1 -2 ounces behind the spark plug, let it soak for 24 hours, then ran the engine for about 20 minutes.

3. I also cleaned everything I could find. There was about 30 years worth of grease everywhere and a nest behind the auger. I'm guessing a field mouse called it home for at least a while. After that I use a bit of WD-40 on every spring I saw and chute linkage.

4. The last thing I did was remove as much rust as I could and repainted the metal cover for the belt and the auger housing baffle. They were pretty much the only parts that where showing signs for rust.

I think the machine must have been serviced before it was retired because the belt and spark plug both look to be in good condition. As for the paddles, they don't look too bad either. So, my total investment was $20 and some time. There hasn't been any signs of snow yet here in southern New England, so I haven't really been able to test it out under load, but I think it will do just fine clearing 1" - 4" of the white stuff.

Not sure what's next, although the electrical system on my tractor needs to be replaced. :wacko:


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