# Deluxe Platinum 24 - no drive



## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Fired it up today, put it in forward gear - no go, tried reverse - same story.
I decided the friction drive was shot so I replaced it with a new one (the old one was worn but not that much)
Adjusted the clutch cable and tried it out - still no go! If I lift the wheels off the ground they spin but stop as soon as they contact the ground. Could it be the differential is screwed? Is there a shear pin somewhere on the drive axle that may have snapped?
Now that I think about it, it worked OK last week, so probably not the friction disk.
Thanks in advance.


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## Ziggy65 (Jan 18, 2020)

Have you had the wheels off lately?
The axles have a key way and if the key fell out and not replaced the wheels will spin on the axle shafts.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Ziggy65 said:


> Have you had the wheels off lately?
> The axles have a key way and if the key fell out and not replaced the wheels will spin on the axle shafts.


Thanks Ziggy.
Had the wheels off today while investigating, both keys are OK. 
Wes 🇨🇦


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

My prime suspect is the Hilliard Auto Lock differential. The 'Automatic Traction and Steering Control' feature has never really worked that well since new. Just found a post showing one disassembled, I'll try to clean and lube mine before I have to shell out 180 USD for the 'new, improved' unit.


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## 1132le (Feb 23, 2017)

belt


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

have you made sure he drive plate is moving to make contact with the friction wheel? is the belt also there and still under tension? you should probably be able to test the differential by just spinning the wheels. if it spins the gears/sprockets it should likely be doing what it should. could also just spin the friction wheel and hold the tires.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

That is a lot of material spewing on the inside upper frame, etc...... While your in there, might want to look at the gear selection adjustment, as well as the friction disc to drive plate gap.

If you can't visibly see why the wheels are not engaging, I would also suspect the differential.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

crazzywolfie said:


> have you made sure he drive plate is moving to make contact with the friction wheel? is the belt also there and still under tension? you should probably be able to test the differential by just spinning the wheels. if it spins the gears/sprockets it should likely be doing what it should. could also just spin the friction wheel and hold the tires.


Thanks.
The belt is new with correct tension, the drive plate makes good contact with the friction wheel. Spinning the friction wheel while holding the tires gives no resistance. No heated shop and -12C working temp - I'll pull the diff tomorrow.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Oneacer said:


> That is a lot of material spewing on the inside upper frame, etc...... While your in there, might want to look at the gear selection adjustment, as well as the friction disc to drive plate gap.
> 
> If you can't visibly see why the wheels are not engaging, I would also suspect the differential.


Thanks!
Yes, I never did clean the mess from a failed friction disc a few years back (I always have a new one in the shed).
I'll pull the diff tomorrow.


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## Oneacer (Jan 3, 2011)

Friction discs should last a lot more than a few years ..... Check to make sure things are adjusted and operating properly. Also keep things in there lubed, but make sure you keep the friction disc rubber, and it's drive plate clean of any lube. An area that many neglect is the octagon slide shaft. I spray some on a rag, and do it by hand.


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## Ian Ariens 924 (Dec 22, 2015)

Put unit on it’s nose, with the bottom pan off, depress the drive handle.
You will then see the drive plate move up and contact the drive disc.
Clamp the handle down, try to turn the wheels.
You should not be able to move the drive disc or drive plate while the handle is depressed.
If not adjust the cable. The drive plate may not be moving to touch the drive disc and need a little free up and lube.


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## Big_6 (Dec 16, 2020)

I've been in this situation before. Everything was present but the drive axle was slightly off at the two mounting bolts outside. 
After a slight adjustment everything was operational once again.
Your situation may be different.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

OK, I'll be the first to say it, "I'm an idiot!" 
I thought the traction belt condition and tension looked good - it wasn't. Luckily, I had bought a set of Ariens belts along with the friction drive, installed them today - works like new. Note to self: check the basic stuff first.
Thanks for all the help.


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## crazzywolfie (Jun 2, 2014)

that is good to hear. the biggest reason i even asked about the belt was the fact you cant even see it in the pictures and drive belts do occasionally go bad.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Well I guess I spoke too soon. Fired it up today, back to the same problem. In the process of removing the drive axle and differential.

edit: it is so cold here I was allowed to work on it yesterday in the front porch, so it was warmed up when I ran it. Sat outside overnight, can't figure out what would go sideways from cold - it is a snow blower after all.


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## Auger1 (Dec 4, 2020)

This reminds me of a blower I sold a month ago, guy called me back and said the drive part failed and would pay me to look at it. I told him just to bring it over, he dropped it off but couldn't wait and left it with me. Pulled the belly cover and the bolt for the gear drive broke. Fixed it and texted him 10 minutes later, boy was he surprised, it was a super simple fix but I have a happy customer.


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## oneboltshort (Dec 16, 2019)

Wonder if you've got some water inside the diff, bad seal? 
Some good pics of what is inside the diff here.
Inside the Auto-Turn Differential


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## brianhood (Mar 10, 2019)

Wes Kootenay said:


> Fired it up today, put it in forward gear - no go, tried reverse - same story.
> I decided the friction drive was shot so I replaced it with a new one (the old one was worn but not that much)
> Adjusted the clutch cable and tried it out - still no go! If I lift the wheels off the ground they spin but stop as soon as they contact the ground. Could it be the differential is screwed? Is there a shear pin somewhere on the drive axle that may have snapped?
> Now that I think about it, it worked OK last week, so probably not the friction disk.
> ...


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## oneboltshort (Dec 16, 2019)

Looking at enlarged pic there does appear to be some contact on your short axle side.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

oneboltshort said:


> Wonder if you've got some water inside the diff, bad seal?
> Some good pics of what is inside the diff here.
> Inside the Auto-Turn Differential


Yes, I saw that post, thank you. My diff is different, but the same idea.
Hope I can get this sorted as we have a snowfall warning in effect. Luckily our tractor does a good job of the gravel driveway.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

[QUOTE="brianhood, post: 1804909, member: 135697"[/QUOTE]
Thanks! Hopefully I'll get it apart today.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

oneboltshort said:


> Looking at enlarged pic there does appear to be some contact on your short axle side.
> 
> View attachment 185770


I hadn't noticed that, the chain is a bit slack. Thanks!


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Pulled out the drive axle today. Relieved to find the splines on both the long and short tubes were in good condition. 









The diff came out really easy, the covers are secured with six T-15 head screws. There was zero grease inside the diff, what had been there had become hard as a rock, had to chip it out to pry out the six rollers.

















Got it as clean as I could, then filled with grease and replaced the rollers.









Same thing on the other side, replaced the caps then reinstalled the drive axle.
Took a deep breath, fired the machine up, pulled the drive lever - worked perfectly in all speeds.
Woohoo!! 😃


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## Six Pack (Jan 29, 2021)

Glad you got it going! I'm up the Valley also, which is pretty rare since this region of BC has a very low population density. We can get some real snow here!


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Six Pack said:


> Glad you got it going! I'm up the Valley also, which is pretty rare since this region of BC has a very low population density. We can get some real snow here!


Have you looked out your window this morning? There goes my day of leisure 
Patio furniture under there - somewhere?









Wes, Slocan Park.


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## Six Pack (Jan 29, 2021)

Wes Kootenay said:


> Have you looked out your window this morning? There goes my day of leisure
> Patio furniture under there - somewhere?
> 
> View attachment 185871
> ...


This is even stranger, since I live in Slocan Park also! (For those that don't know, Slocan Park is a small unincorporated rural community with about 120 homes).

But yes, my Ariens Deluxe 30 EFI certainly did get a workout today blowing this new snowfall! It's days like today that I'm glad I bought a decent blower, instead of an $800 Cambodian Tire special!

In fact, I certainly could've utilized the power of a Platinum SHO model! But I'll be happy with what I have, and take easy bites in 1st gear in between sips of my 'flavoured' coffee! I'm in no rush! Kootenay Time is a thing!


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Six Pack said:


> This is even stranger, since I live in Slocan Park also!


Howdy neighbor! We are on the west side of the river - Slocan Dark. 
I bought my blower from a guy in Nelson 'used but never used', he had been transferred from Kitimat and found himself living in a townhouse where snow removal was contracted.

My repair seems to have worked, at first I had all the forward speeds but no reverse. After about 30 minutes I suddenly had reverse in 'turtle' and 'rabbit' speed, I have only ever had 'turtle' since new.


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## Six Pack (Jan 29, 2021)

Wes Kootenay said:


> Howdy neighbor! We are on the west side of the river - Slocan Dark.
> I bought my blower from a guy in Nelson 'used but never used', he had been transferred from Kitimat and found himself living in a townhouse where snow removal was contracted.
> 
> My repair seems to have worked, at first I had all the forward speeds but no reverse. After about 30 minutes I suddenly had reverse in 'turtle' and 'rabbit' speed, I have only ever had 'turtle' since new.


Howdy! I'm East Side, so no Bailey Bridge (people forget that these still exist)! 

Even though my machine is newer, I still do find it 'finicky' to adjust to find the sweet spot between 1st and Reverse...Luckily it's easy to do, and trial and error will get me to that sweet spot in all conditions! To be expected from a drive mechanism as simple as a friction disk!


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## harry398 (Jun 22, 2021)

wow....im kinda shocked that was "the fix".
interesting.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

harry398 said:


> wow....im kinda shocked that was "the fix".
> interesting.


Yes, I was running it yesterday and today for several hours, no problems. 
I meant to take a pic of it blowing a path to our compost box, the snow is higher than the 'drift buster' bars.


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## harry398 (Jun 22, 2021)

thats great news. maybe ill pull mine out in the summer and pack it with grease as a service.


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

harry398 said:


> thats great news. maybe ill pull mine out in the summer and pack it with grease as a service.


Just saw this. I would suggest that if your auto-turn is working, leave it alone - mine wasn't!
Honestly, I'm still baffled as to why this was 'the fix'. Surely, with the diff locked solid, it should have still driven, just not auto-turned? Another of life's little mysteries


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## Big_6 (Dec 16, 2020)

Auto turn is the best!

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


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## Wes Kootenay (Jan 10, 2018)

Just reading over what I went through last winter, haven't touched it since.
This winter it fired right up and the drive still works like new.

Cheers! 🌨🍻


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## harry398 (Jun 22, 2021)

greasing it DEF improved the feeling of it turning

find out soon enough


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