# Help With Ariens 910008 snow thrower



## AFlood777 (Jan 2, 2016)

Hello

This is my first post on the forum and I am glad that I found it because I have almost no real experience working with engines, especially small engines let alone snow throwers.

I have Ariens 910008 7hp snow thrower that my mom actually pick up at a garage sale a few years ago. We had it checked out before last winter and the guy rebuilt the carb and said it was fine otherwise and showed my dad and brother in law how to start it up and run it when they picked it up.

However when we finally got a big enough snow to use it I tried to start it a couple times and got it to run for a few minutes but was never able to keep it running and actually use it. With the minimal snow we got last year I never really needed it after that so I just forgot about it until we got our first big snow this last week.

I went to try to start it and found that when I added gas it started leaking out right away and then I realized there was NO pull start cord!!!!

I thought I had pull started it the couple times I tried last year but there does not even seem to be pull start assembly necessary so I may have just used the electric start.

So when I went to move the throttle I found that it was seized up and would not even move so I just put it away and started shoveling.

Once I was halfway through my driveway I realized that I NEEDED a good snow thrower and got lucky and my neighbor from across the street came with his john deer tractor and did the bulk of the deep snow that the plow threw.

After all that I took a look at my machine and decided that I was going to fix it up and bring it back to life as I have always wanted to restore something like this and I figured it would be a good way to get a good understanding and knowledge about how these small engines work and how to fix them.
So I am in the process of replacing the fuel line, fuel shutoff/control valve and fuel tank gasket and the throttle cable. I am also replacing some of the bolts and hardware because they are so rusted that I am afraid that if I don’t do it while I can it will be a bigger issue in the future.
I am basically looking for any advice or direction that could help. Also I seem to be missing some kind of air intake/filter and like I said before the whole pull start assembly. Do I NEED to replace these right away or can I get away with out them at least for the rest of the season or until I can find replacements and have the time to put them on?

Also all of the direction for starting and maintenance are gone and I had read that there are special directions for starting this version?
Thank You for reading my post and appreciate any and all help and suggestions.
Thanks Again!!!
Alan


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## GoBlowSnow (Sep 4, 2015)

First off give us a few photos of the machine and engine and engine controls.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome: to the forum AFlood


The old engines had a "different" style of primer. On newer engines you press the rubber bulb a couple times and it squirts in some raw fuel to help get it going when it's cold.

On the old engines there is a spring loaded rod that you have to hold in. It holds a plate over the carbs intake and then as you hold it in and pull the cord once or twice the pistons creates a suction to pull in raw fuel. You do this with the throttle closed and or the* ignition off.* Then you open the throttle to run and or turn the ignition on with the choke closed and try to start it.

Like on this one:


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## Digger 66 (Apr 16, 2015)

Kiss4aFrog said:


>


These carburetors can be found online for about 25 bucks .
Just got one myself .


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## AFlood777 (Jan 2, 2016)

Here are some pics I took yesterday and never got around to adding to my post but only one of the whole machine. I can add a couple more if this does not help.

As you can see I have the tank, tank bracket and one of the shrouds off as I am about to go outside right not and put a new fuel line, tank gasket and fuel shutoff/control valve on.

The think is as you can see there is no pull starter assembly and as far as I can remember it never had one and I have been able to start it a few times.

The other thing is that I have had to put a piece of cardboard under it because it is leaking oil and has been since I got it and I just noticed a small piece of hose hanging off the engine under the carb that looks to be some sort of oil pressure releaf or something and just like in the picture one of you has attached there is oil all over the gearbox. Is this normal?

I am going to go put those parts on see if I can figure out how to check the oil and maybe try to start it up.

By the way thank you for all of the reply's!!! I am actually very excited to get into this project and learn some stuff because I also have a John Deer riding mower and my old trusty MTD riding mower that blew a motor this summer I want to bring back to life.


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## AFlood777 (Jan 2, 2016)

Alright so I had some luck. After installing the new fuel line and fuel shutoff with tank gasket I put most of the shroud pieces back on and followed the instructions I found online(same as the ones you gave me) to get it started.

I did still have the part that goes over the carburetor off which may make a difference since it says that an air cleaner must be used if it is run with out the heater box or what ever they call it.

I went ahead and put it in full choke held the thing in that starves the motor of air and gave the electric(remember I don't have the pull starter assembly) starter a quick push. Then released it and gave the starter a couple of longer pushes and after a couple of attempts it fired up with a huge plume of dark grey smoke!!!

I was running extremely rough and fairly slow and still steadily spewing grey smoke but seemed to smooth out a little and the smoke got lighter and less dense after I gave it a little more throttle, but being that it was after 10pm at night and it didn't seem to be running really smoothly I killed it and put it away.

I realized after I put it away that I never moved the choke to lean out the gas air mixture so I am wondering if that's why it seemed to still be fairly rough and smoky?

I am going to try again in the morning when the neighbors cant get pissed at me and I will try to keep it going and work with the choke and throttle and see if I cant get it to run a little better.

I also have to replace the throttle cable with the new one I bought because the one I have on right now is off the John Deer mower I have and is too short and does not have enough throw or movement so I can only go maybe 2/3 into the throttle.

Also when I took off the main shroud I noticed that the top of the motor, I guess what might be the head casting looked to be almost new compared to the rest of the motor. It was shiny and clean with very minimal grime or age identifiable, similar to the look of the carb which makes me think that both of them may have been replaced shortly before I got it...does that make since or is it really even practical or possible, and if so is that a good sign or a bad one?

Like I said I was getting a good amount of grey smoke especially at first. Is that just from running it on choke or could it be a sign of something else? By the way I checked the oil and it is actually a little above the full line(and that is after it soaked a couple pieces of cardboard with the oil that was leaking out) and the oil looks to be extremely clean and fresh and like I said has stopped leaking out so I am guessing that is a good sign.

I also took some more pictures of the whole machine along with detail pictures of the carb aria and the controls etc.

Ill try to find some time in the morning to post them if I can.

Anyway thanks again for all the help and I look forward any and all replays and suggestions.

Thanks Again
Alan


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

When GoBlowSnow mentioned getting some photos I'm pretty sure he was talking about the carb area so he (we) could figure out which type of carb you had.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

the grey some is most likely due to running your machine with the choke on


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## AFlood777 (Jan 2, 2016)

Here are some better pictures and you should also be able to see what I am talking about with the head casting and carb looking new.

























I am going to be adding the new throttle cable this morning and I was wondering if there are any suggestions or special instructions I need to follow when doing this to make it work the best?

Also I am wondering what you guys think about the fact that I don't have a pull starter? My plan is to get it running good enough to function for the rest of the winter then completely rebuild it once the snow stops.

After looking at all of the rebuilt and refurbished ones on this site and others I would much rather have one of these classics that has been refurbished and working like it did when it rolled off the line in the early 70's over a brand new model from 2015.

So I am thinking I will just wait for the rebuild to find a new pull start assembly and depending on condition of what I find just do that along with everything else rather than trying to find one now and putting it on, but I guess my question is if that is ok or if I am doing any damage by not using the pull starter to slowly turn it over a few times before starting it up?

I should be able to also just grab the part of the crankshaft sticking out the back that the pull starter would be attached to and rotate it clockwise(?) a few times to move the pistons and get them to suck some gas in correct? Or is that not a good idea?

Thanks Again for your patients and all of the help!!!!!

Alan


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## sidegrinder (Apr 18, 2015)

Good work there so far. Where in Wisconsin are you? Im over near Sheboygan. If you need some parts let me know as I have a pretty good stash. Be careful you don't get your tallywacker caught in that flywheel!


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## AFlood777 (Jan 2, 2016)

Alright so I figured I would give a little update on my progress with my 73 Airens 910008 Snow-throw that I have been working on and posting about.

After doing a lot of reading and exploring on this forum and taking some advice from the very helpful people that chimed in on this thread I got it up, running and actually blowing snow in a functional way.

When I pulled it out this year after the first good snow here in Wisconsin, it was two years after picking it up at a garage sale and having a local small engine repair shop do a tune up, oil change and carb rebuild. It had been leaking oil from day one so the gear box was covered in oil and grime. When I went to put gas in it the gas started leaking out the the fuel shut off valve at a rate that made it not really functional. Despite the gas leak I decided that I would go ahead and try to get it started but when I went to give it a pull I realized that there was NO PULL STARTER!!!
Then when I went to use the electric start I found that the throttle cable was frozen up so I couldn't even adjust the throttle to try to get it started.

So I replaced the fuel line, the fuel shutoff valve, the gas tank gasket and the throttle cable. I also replaced the bolts that hold the tank and shroud pieces to the motor and hold the head casting to the block because they were so rusted out I was afraid that if I didn't do it now they would get so bad that getting them off in the future would be a huge ordeal. I also picked up a pull starter assembly from the guy at the local small engine shop that he said should work, but when I installed it something didn't seem to fit properly but I left it on as a stop gap.

After adding fuel and a little tweaking I was able to get it to start up and run fairly well with out any noticeable issues. The pull starter was making a horrible rattling noise so I took it back off.

My girlfriends drive way was only half cleared because I had to do it with a shovel so I cut a path to my trailer with the newly running snowblower and took it to her house and did the remainder of her driveway.

For the most part It went very well and did the job without me having to invest a lot of physic effort, but I do have a few issues and questions about how is runs and what can be done to make it work better.

First off even at full throttle it felt a little under powered and did not seem to throw the snow as far as I would have liked it to. I am a little concerned that when I do a whole driveway especially if its more snow than this it wont be able to get the snow from the middle to the edge so I will have twice the snow when I get to the side of the driveway.

Is there any way to adjust the carb or the connections between the throttle cable and the carb to make sure I am getting as much power from the motor as I can? Is there anything else that I can to do boost the power a little to give me a little more distance when throwing the snow?

Second I was not able to get a thin layer of snow off the ground and when it came to parts where the snow had been driven on and was packed down I couldn't get it to cut into it and throw it.

I know I have to adjust the skids or whatever they are called(or replace), but do you have any suggestions or good methods for adjusting these to get the most out of the machine when clearing driveways?

Last but not least, my plan is to get through the winter the way it is and then tear the whole thing apart, strip and sandblast all of the parts, then rebuild and refurnish the whole thing.

I found a very very similar, same line snow blower(maybe a year older/newer) at the local junk yard and they want $50 for it and wont sell me parts off it so I am wondering if its worth buying it to have the machine for parts. Since the pull starter I bought is not the exact right one and this one has one on it that would cover like $30 of the cost, that is if the starter is not seized up. Do you think its worth it?

Does anyone have any suggestions for someone that is going to rebuild one of these machines that would be really help full?

Thanks again for all of the help and I look forward to being a part of this forum and updating my progress as I rebild my 73 snow throw!!!!

Alan


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## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

Watch some of donnyboys tune up and testing videos and I think you will pick up on some very useful tips/tricks. Youll have to dig through the ones that are applicable.....


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