# PSA: What to do when you can't kill your engine despite you turning it off



## fluffy (Mar 16, 2017)

Hey Guys,

If you have issues with your shutdown switch and can't turn off, simply remove the wire going into the spark plug to kill power to the spark.
I ran into this issue where water somehow seeped into the shutdown key plastic container, corroded the wiring and prevented me from shutting down the engine.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*Turn off the fuel line shut off.*


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

If you pull the plug wire, it may be good to use insulated pliers, if you can. I've heard that sometimes the plug cable can shock you otherwise, at least if the wire's insulation has a problem. 

The fuel shutoff should definitely work too, if it has one. Just not as quick as pulling the wire. 

In a pinch, full choke, and maybe dropping it to idle, might be enough to make it stall.


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## JLawrence08648 (Jan 15, 2017)

I've disconnected all my key shut-offs and just throttle down but all mine have the throttle grounding, high med low idle ground/off. Worse comes to worse as mentioned, idle down then full choke.


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## RIT333 (Feb 6, 2014)

With the Toro heavy duty gearbox, "supposedly" you should be able to just toss a 2x4 into the auger and the engine will stall out ! LOL...supposedly. Kind of like the table saw that will shut off if it hits your finger. 

Don't try this at home !


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

choke if you don't have fuel shut off.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

Choke

If the idle slow some machines way stall if you engage abruptly.


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## fluffy (Mar 16, 2017)

All good options that you guys have mentioned.
It'll be interesting when Toro, Ariens, Simplicity & a bunch of others launch EFI on their snow engines.
I think Ariens launched one this year, and I have heard good things about it. 
The problem with EFI is that you can't shut it down using the choke method since it usually comes with an electric choke and electric governor.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

Pulling the plug wire or grounding the wire to the head with a screw driver is quick and easy. A little electroshock therapy never hurt anyone.


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## Prime (Jan 11, 2014)

Another option if your kill switch is toast. Most kill switches I have seen are two wires or one wire to ground to the body seperated by a plastic key. Remove the key the two sides connect and ground out the fire killing the engine. You could run extensions off the wires to a toggle or push button switch on the panel and again have an effective kill switch. If its only one wire, run one to the wire and one to a good ground from the switch. Tecumseh engines usually have a kill switch in the throttle lever as well. Lever all the way down kills the engine.
Of course the no cost no effort way, choke it. May be hard to start if your going to restart fairly soon.


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## Blackstar (Dec 27, 2010)

RIT333 said:


> With the Toro heavy duty gearbox, "supposedly" you should be able to just toss a 2x4 into the auger and the engine will stall out ! LOL...supposedly. Kind of like the table saw that will shut off if it hits your finger.
> 
> Don't try this at home !


I've seen the video of this saw safety equipment... That inventor is one BRAVE *******...


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

Don't get me wrong, he is very brave, and it's a test that I have no interest in doing myself  

But he was at least smart enough to put the edge of one fingertip into the blade, gradually. So even if it didn't stop at all, the most he should get is a nicked fingertip. That's at least much smarter than putting the base of his finger perpendicular to the saw blade, and sliding it in quickly, where he could actually lose a finger if the saw didn't stop properly. 

And I don't fault him for doing it the "safe" way. Everything can have failures. It would be terrible if the one time the blade-brake didn't work properly was when someone was doing a needlessly-risky test, like sliding a finger into the saw perpendicularly, and quickly.


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