# Engine shuts off when auger is engaged



## Paperlantern

Hi all

I was snow blowing during the "bomb cyclone" when I heard a "pop" sound and my snowblower shut down. Now whenever I engage the auger, it kills the engine. My amateur opinion is that this is a belt, but I would appreciate any feedback. Also, I am wondering how much this will cost me and if this is an easy fix for an amateur.

I have a Troy Bilt 21" that I would estimate is from the late 90's. The model number is 42000.

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## tpenfield

See if you can turn the impeller by hand and if it also turns the auger. (engine off obviously . . . ) If it does not turn freely by hand, then take off the belt cover for further inspection.


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## JLawrence08648

Read the Caveat - Turn the impeller by "hand" as tpenfield suggested, see if the auger turns BUT first remove the spark plug for 3 reasons, ease of turning the auger in case the belts are sticking, you don't want a compression kickback, and you don't want the engine starting. When turning by "hand", use a 2x4 to turn the impeller. You don't want to get your fingers stuck. 

Check the auger for something caught inside.

Remove the shear pins, see if the auger turns.

Remove the belt cover, check for a broken belt. A belt is something anyone willing to do, can do.


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## jsup

Did you take off the inspection cover on the bottom? Look around under there. From what I understand from your post, the engine starts and runs fine, only chokes when power is put to the auger. Could be a lot of things, but obviously the auger is hosed up, and stuck. If it were on the outside, you'd snap a sheer pin, the problem probably lies under the cover.


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## Paperlantern

Thanks so much guys. Turned out the auger would not turn on its own, and there was a small frozen clump of dirt jamming it up. I am back in business. Great forum, thanks again!


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## Oneacer

Yeah, that frozen dirt might as well be a chunk of Concrete, and can and will do serious damage ... be very careful for any obstacle ...

One of my neighbors had chunks of dirt left from the Town plow in one of my cleanups... went through 2 shear pins ...


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## jsup

Paperlantern said:


> Thanks so much guys. Turned out the auger would not turn on its own, and there was a small frozen clump of dirt jamming it up. I am back in business. Great forum, thanks again!


Get the right sheer pins, they should have broken.


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## orangputeh

jsup said:


> Get the right sheer pins, they should have broken.


good call. hopefully the owner dodged a bullet with no other damage.


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## Spectrum

jsup said:


> Get the right sheer pins, they should have broken.



Sometime on a wedge load such as this case there can be so much side load against the shaft that the shear pins never see the full torque load.


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## jsup

Spectrum said:


> Sometime on a wedge load such as this case there can be so much side load against the shaft that the shear pins never see the full torque load.


Enough force to stop the engine? You can't get any more force than that. I'll take your word for it, I've never seen it.


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## Ircorva67

I had the exact same problem with my 2-stage 2009 Craftsman 24” snowblower. It’s also an MTD built snowblower, just like Troy-bilt, Cub Cadet and many others, and they all use MTD’s ”Powermore” engine. It had been running fine, then suddenly would quit when I engaged the auger. I took the carb apart looking for a speck of anything- but it was clean. I cleaned the jet and various other parts. No luck- it still died when I pushed the auger lever down. However, if I “eased” the auger slowly, it kept running... until I attempted to use it.

Long story short, it was the spark plug cap (or boot, if you prefer that word) that’s covered by a metal sleeve. Inside the metal is NOT an all-rubber boot. It’s hard plastic, and when I took off the cap, most of it fell right off the wire onto the floor: it had cracked in two inside that darn metal cover. You couldn’t see it prior to it falling off.

Only a small part if the plastic cap was still attached to the wire. I could see burns where the spark was arcing to that metal sleeve. That small piece unscrewed very easily from the spark plug wire. However, the cap / boot isn’t sold as a separate part. My local shop said I had to buy the whole coil assembly, and replacing it would require a lot more work than I felt like doing. 

The Powermore engine is said to be a Honda clone, and this long boot is needed to attach to the spark plug that’s buried in a spot where you couldn’t easily attach or remove a normal small rubber boot like we all know from Briggs engines.

Here’s the good news: those caps ARE available online, and they screw right back onto the end of the plug wire using what seems like a built in sheet metal screw. I got a Stens 135-226 Spark Plug Cap on Amazon for $6.95. Other aftermarket brands are also available there and at other online stores selling mower and snowblower parts. This cap is way better than the original metal covered boot, because it has a pull handle built on so you can pull it when it’s stuck on the spark plug without doing any damage to the cap or wire. It took seconds to install the new cap, and the snowblower works perfectly now.

Apparently, engaging the auger shook things just enough to open up that crack and caused the spark to jump to the metal sleeve, shutting the engine down. Once I restarted it, it ran until the auger created the movement again.

This was tough one. My local repair shop, an excellent place that’s a Toro dealer, was really unfamiliar with the otherwise very common MTD Powermore motor. They weren’t much more knowledgeable about that metal covered boot than I was. And the hard plastic that cracked is totally covered by metal, so the problem wasn’t visible.

That was my problem and the $6.95 solution. I hope this helps someone.


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## dfrehulfer

Ircorva67 said:


> I had the exact same problem with my 2-stage 2009 Craftsman 24” snowblower. It’s also an MTD built snowblower, just like Troy-bilt, Cub Cadet and many others, and they all use MTD’s ”Powermore” engine. It had been running fine, then suddenly would quit when I engaged the auger. I took the carb apart looking for a speck of anything- but it was clean. I cleaned the jet and various other parts. No luck- it still died when I pushed the auger lever down. However, if I “eased” the auger slowly, it kept running... until I attempted to use it.
> 
> Long story short, it was the spark plug cap (or boot, if you prefer that word) that’s covered by a metal sleeve. Inside the metal is NOT an all-rubber boot. It’s hard plastic, and when I took off the cap, most of it fell right off the wire onto the floor: it had cracked in two inside that darn metal cover. You couldn’t see it prior to it falling off.
> 
> Only a small part if the plastic cap was still attached to the wire. I could see burns where the spark was arcing to that metal sleeve. That small piece unscrewed very easily from the spark plug wire. However, the cap / boot isn’t sold as a separate part. My local shop said I had to buy the whole coil assembly, and replacing it would require a lot more work than I felt like doing.
> 
> The Powermore engine is said to be a Honda clone, and this long boot is needed to attach to the spark plug that’s buried in a spot where you couldn’t easily attach or remove a normal small rubber boot like we all know from Briggs engines.
> 
> Here’s the good news: those caps ARE available online, and they screw right back onto the end of the plug wire using what seems like a built in sheet metal screw. I got a Stens 135-226 Spark Plug Cap on Amazon for $6.95. Other aftermarket brands are also available there and at other online stores selling mower and snowblower parts. This cap is way better than the original metal covered boot, because it has a pull handle built on so you can pull it when it’s stuck on the spark plug without doing any damage to the cap or wire. It took seconds to install the new cap, and the snowblower works perfectly now.
> 
> Apparently, engaging the auger shook things just enough to open up that crack and caused the spark to jump to the metal sleeve, shutting the engine down. Once I restarted it, it ran until the auger created the movement again.
> 
> This was tough one. My local repair shop, an excellent place that’s a Toro dealer, was really unfamiliar with the otherwise very common MTD Powermore motor. They weren’t much more knowledgeable about that metal covered boot than I was. And the hard plastic that cracked is totally covered by metal, so the problem wasn’t visible.
> 
> That was my problem and the $6.95 solution. I hope this helps someone.


Just wanted to drop a line and thank you for this suggestion. I was having this exact problem with my circa 2016 Craftsman 24" snowblower and replacing the boot seems to have resolved the issue!


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## Bulk112

jsup said:


> Enough force to stop the engine? You can't get any more force than that. I'll take your word for it, I've never seen it.


Same thing just happened to me. Had a rock wedged in the 2nd stage auger. I'm guessing that's the impeller? Stalled the engine right away. Once out, all was good and was able to finish my driveway. Was nervous I messed something up though as I'm new to Mechanical stuff and just decided to service my snow blower myself last weekend. At first I thought what did I "F" up now.....


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