# Ariens Self Propell sometimes won't Disengage.



## sporty87 (Feb 4, 2014)

Hello,
I am new to this forum so forgive me if I have made mistakes in posting.
I have an Ariens ST724 and in last nights snow storm sometimes my self propel will not disengage. Last weeks snow I had no problem and did all my snow removal and put the blower away in the shed working fine. Now this snow fall this problem has arisen. If I lift the rear of the blower and pick the wheels off the ground and then bounce them down on the pavement the self propel will disengage. Handle to control self propel is working fine, cable is pulling and releasing the mechanism it is attached to and there is slack in the cable when not in use.
Does any body have any answers to as what could be wrong?
Last year I replaced the friction disc and the blower has worked great since until this LAST STORM. other wise nothing has been changed.


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## motorhead64 (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi Sporty,
Welcome to the forum. It sounds like your engagement clutch is out of adjustment. If you look at the cable where it attaches to the clutch lever, you will see a couple of nuts on a threaded section of rod. One nut holds the other nut tight. You will have to hold one nut while backing off the other which will allow you to take a bit of the slack out of the cable. Now, when the clutch handle is pulled, it moves the lever a bit more. Just a few turns, try it and go from there. I like to mark the threads on the rod with a magic marker or wrap a piece of tape around it. Then you can return to the original position if you are not getting positive results.

The other possibility is that the friction disc on your drive system is worn and is slipping. Slipping can also be cause by the elements...snow getting inside and melting on the drive disc causing slippage.


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## mkd (Dec 31, 2013)

sporty87! sounds like the mechanism that slides the drive disc back to engage the friction wheel is dry. take the plastic belt guard off in front of the engine and watch what moves when you push the drive lever up and down.. the part that slides on a shaft about 1/2" towards the handlebars is probably dry. i lubed mine with motor oil and has worked fine ever since. just don't get any lube on the belts or pulleys.


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## sporty87 (Feb 4, 2014)

Thanks for both suggestions I will try to try both of these ideas tonight if I can. we are expecting more snow tonight here on Long Island NY.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

mkd has the right idea.


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## sporty87 (Feb 4, 2014)

mkd said:


> sporty87! sounds like the mechanism that slides the drive disc back to engage the friction wheel is dry. take the plastic belt guard off in front of the engine and watch what moves when you push the drive lever up and down.. the part that slides on a shaft about 1/2" towards the handlebars is probably dry. i lubed mine with motor oil and has worked fine ever since. just don't get any lube on the belts or pulleys.


Tried this and it worked! Drive mechanism disengages fine.
Thanks MKD


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## mkd (Dec 31, 2013)

sporty! my 1985 924 ariens went over twenty years before it started to drive on it's own. every time i released the lever i had to hang onto it so it wouldn't run away from me. lubed it up with 5w30 and drive was free from then on till the day i sold it. glad you were able to solve the problem.
!


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## 18009 (Feb 10, 2014)

*Thanks*

.


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