# Ariens ST1336PRO Won't Crank



## nervous (Nov 15, 2015)

Well, as I try to get things set for the inevitable northeast winter weather I pulled the ST1336PRO from its summer storage over the weekend to give it a once over and start the cable to manual chute deflector conversion. The latter went well, now no more frozen cables. I have run into a bit of a problem though. First a little back story. A coupel weeks earlier I went to the garage and was met with an unusual, fairly strong odor of rotten eggs/sulfur. My nose led me to the Ariens which has been on a standard Deltran battery tender all spring and summer. But this was the first time I had smelled anything at all. Note that I did not remove the battery as I have done in other storage situations, I simply left it installed and ran the charger pigtail to the BT as per my usual in season maintenance routine. All summer all seemed well and I never checked on it. 

When I pulled the machine out and turned the key to start it seemed that the battery was dead. A couple pulls and it started right up from its long sleep but now I am wondering is the batter is somehow ruined. Perhaps a cooked cell? I then it on a different BT Jr and the problem was not replicated.After an overnight on that I had a battery treading of 13.3V. But turning the key does nothing. Went back out tonight, battery still reads at 12.5v with no new charging but there is no life when I turn the key to start. The 15A fuse up under the 'dash' is fine. I tried to read the voltage at the starter and block connections but got nothing, presumably because it's not a direct connection, passing through the solenoid? If that sounds stupid it probably is because while my mechanical skills are passable my electrical skills are all but non-existent. 

Any ideas for direction on what might be wrong? Is it possible that I am missing something so obvious like a switch, button, interlock, etc. that would hinder starting? I only had the machine a few months last winter and used it sparingly because of the mild winter so my overall familiarity may be suspect. 

I welcome your experiences and expertise.


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

Clean the battery terminals and cables.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

Sticky starter solenoid perhaps.....? With a soft mallet give it a few taps and try again, if it works after that you have a sticky solenoid. You can also put the key on crank position and tap on the starter solenoid (it works most of the time on sticky starter solenoids on cars).
Other that that maybe corrosion build up or loose connection(s) somewhere.


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## Ian Ariens 924 (Dec 22, 2015)

The sulphur smell sounds like a boiled battery.
I'd load test the battery to confirm you actually have power.
Let it sit for a few days with no charge to see if it holds the charge

Check the electrolyte level in each cell
I have had batteries test/ measure over 12 volts but have no power, after storage on a float charger.

Good luck


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## ELaw (Feb 4, 2015)

I agree with Ian... sulfur smell usually means the battery is junk. Either because it aged out, was defective, or the charger malfunctioned.

If you can do so safely, try this: put your multimeter probes on the battery terminals to measure voltage, and keep them there while trying to crank the motor. I had a car battery fail once such that with little or no load the voltage at the terminals was fine, but as soon as you put a heavy load on it, the voltage dropped to zero.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

if i were you, i would seriously try to jump start it with your car to verify that the snowblower electrical system isnt the issue. if it starts, you can be 100% sure the battery is the issue


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## nervous (Nov 15, 2015)

Thank you all for your responses and ideas. Plenty here to try this weekend if I can find a few minutes. I'll report my findings.


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## nervous (Nov 15, 2015)

Well, don't I feel stupid. I don't know why I thought that the battery was a maintenance free sealed unit but as you all probably already know, it was not... I was still reading a solid 12.5 volts after 2-3 days sitting so I thought I'd see if the caps would pop off. They did. And every cell was all but empty. That pretty much defines my issue. I did fill them all and put it back on teh charger just to see what would happen, and I may have overfilled a bit because it has was oozing water most of yesterday afternoon. But, I did get a positive solenoid and starter, not enough to actually turn the engine, but enough to indicate they are probably OK. 

At this point I think it best to lick my wounds and simply replace it. The cost of a lesson learned. 

Any replacement battery suggestions? Is the current basic lawn and garden Interstate model sufficient? Or is there a better reasonably priced option for sometimes rough northeast winter use?

Thanks all.


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## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

You would have had to put in some acid as well to revitalize it...... if it was savable at all. Sometimes motorcycle batteries ship dry with a container of acid to put in it...... not sure it's sold separate or not?

Oh well, I'd just bite the bullet and get a new one. Be sure to take care of it and use a smart charger/trickle charger to maintain it. That way you don't forget and overcharge it...... figure about 5 years max life on batteries anyway.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

Walmart sometimes has 20 dollar lawn tractor batterys that would be perfect for your application


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