# Ariens 24" Platinum EFI WON'T START...



## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

Yup. Last year, came in here to find the right snowblower. And wound up with an Ariens 'cause they're awesome and bullet proof and reasonably idiot-proof. Bought it, blew snow, and in the spring drained the gas and ran it dry. I figured with EFI it wasn't a problem, but just to be on the safe side...

We have a foot of snow. Went out, plugged in the cord so it'd crank, and no start.

Looked in the manual, which says brilliant things like "is there fuel", and found no reason for it NOT to start.

Called the dealer where we bought it, and they told me there's a BATTERY on the thing. I have the operator's manual in my hand, and there's a picture of the snow blower with all the pertinent items - NO MENTION of a battery. In the maintenance section, there's NO MENTION of needing to charge a battery. Dealer INSISTS the little battery runs the fuel pump and on the EFI, no charged battery, no fuel.....

Apparently, therre's a "small battery" under the console, and according to him, "in the little plastic bag with the manual is the cord for CHARGING the battery"... I have NO CORD. No long cords, no short cords, NOTHING in the baggie - I'm pretty confident if we HAD found a cord last November, I'd have tried to find out what it was for...

SO, I went online and started looking for the 24" Platinum EFI and found the CORRECT manual. Indeed it DOES talk about a battery and a charger. Unfortunately, the manual I received from the DEALER, in the plastic bag is NOT the manual I found online. It lacks ANY mention of there being an EFI OR a battery. My guess is that since the manual is the wrong one, that the BAG was the wrong one, and therefore the reason I HAVE NO CHARGER.

Now I'm stuck waiting for the $%^&* dealer to call me back and the domestic associate is outside shoveling the sidewalk... Mostly because, as she explained it, were she to be in the same room with the moron the spent a fortune on this POS, she'd likely beat me with a snow shovel...


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

The only moron is the dealer who both gave you the wrong packet, and also failed to cover that when reviewing the machine with you. Nothing whatsoever wrong with the machine!

I also have to wonder if anyone reads documemtation anymore? Myself, within a day (or less) of any new purchase, the docs are read cover to cover. Had that been the case, the major control differences between the EFI and carbed models would have been instantly apparent, and this not have happened . . .


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## Beanhead (Oct 17, 2021)

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. That's pretty bad on the dealers part not to go over the machine with you. I hope they can get you back up and running fast. I would like to think they would have batteries on hand of these units.


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

I believe that are missing the charger, so could not keep it charged off season, not the battery . . . that is likely just discharged. These look like typical radio controlled model packs, so in a pinch, an RC charger ought to work . . .


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## Mountain Man (Oct 14, 2018)

Wow. Screw up by the dealer. Cant belive they would mix up and not know the efi needed the charger, etc.. Any dealer should have a spare charger lying around.


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## Darby (Dec 18, 2020)

I hope you can get the battery charged up pronto. Next year try to get it all up to snuff a little earlier in the season. I know, hind sight is 20/20.


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## aa335 (Jan 21, 2020)

Darby said:


> I hope you can get the battery charged up pronto. Next year try to get it all up to snuff a little earlier in the season. I know, hind sight is 20/20.


Thanks for the advice. 

Got all 3 of my snowblowers prepped and ready for snow since beginning of November. Ten days away from "Winter's Solice" and there is no snow. Just lots of rain and wind.

Hurry up and wait. 
Procrastinate and panic.


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

The dealer did hit the "high points" when we picked it up. BUT, nothing was ever said about a fuel pump battery. In fact, they never mentioned much of anything about the EFI - it was treated as "meh", no carburetor, no junk sitting around...

As for up to speed... I read the manual, but focused on maintenance and it never clicked that nothing was said about the EFI - I (stupidly in retrospect) just shrugged and thought Ariens just put out a generic owner's manual for all the Platinum snow blowers. Did the maintenance, put it away for the summer. End of October, when we had some warm days, put in fresh premium gas and fired it up. At 60 degrees it started fine, and I ran it for half a minute, shut down and put it back into the shed. Both the domestic associate and I were confident it would be ready when needed.

Unfortunately, we were wrong. Once I FOUND the correct, SPECIFIC manual online, it was abundantly clear that I'd missed the whole EFI/battery/charging/fuel pump... 

The DA did bring up an interesting question... If the fuel pump is run from a battery that has to be charged, WHY did Ariens NOT build in a simple circuit so when you plug in the cord that runs the starter, it ALSO powers the fuel pump so you start the thing. She was thinking like a car - battery dead, jump it and once running it charges. I didn't have a good answer. When the snowblower is running, does it do anything to keep that battery charged? Or does it just go dead and could quit when you're halfway done with the driveway?


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## davepb (Mar 13, 2021)

The engine charges the battery when running. We have 2 efi 30in Ariens at work , the owners personal unit and one for the company use. I wathched the guys pull them off the pallet rack friday. They turned the key, gas from last March both started first pull. 16in. of snow here in Minneapolis last night.


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## MSB1766 (Jan 25, 2019)

Here is the Deluxe Series Owners Manual and Service Manuals:


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

It's good to know that HOPEFULLY once I have the charger and get this battery charged the thing will likely start... If the battery charges when the blower is running, is it sufficient to hit it with a shot of starter fluid so it'll fire - will there be enough output to get the fuel pump running or is it a much lower charge rate?


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## Elfiero (Apr 9, 2019)

Well, if you can't get it to start, I will give you ten dollars for it, and I will pick it up.


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

Tempting... If I DON'T have the thing, does that mean I can move to where it NEVER does this?


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## davepb (Mar 13, 2021)

Did your dealer get a charger on order for you yet?


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## Ziggy65 (Jan 18, 2020)

He should be robbing a charger from one of the machines in his stock.


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

They have one. Unfortunately they're 40+ miles away so I'll go down there this week and get it. I didn't want it bad enough to deal with the roads Saturday.


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## Beanhead (Oct 17, 2021)

"They have one" So are they going to give it to you free of charge?


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

According to them they are... It would be "disappointing" were they to try to charge me considering I've clearly got the wrong manuals for the snow blower I purchased...


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

Seems like since this was 100% a dealer screwup, that they should be driving it out to _you_ . . .

If there is any other dealer nearby, sounds like time to consider a change . . . These guys caused the problem, and are making you fix it for them!


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

If there had been someone closer with Ariens I would have bought it there, but unfortunately, there weren't a lot of choices locally, and NONE of them were units that were easy to turn, which is why we ended up with the Ariens...

As for "these guys caused the problem, and are making you fix it for them".... These days, retail is a pit. The old model of service and return business is completely GONE. Very few places have anyone that knows much about the products, and most care even less. It's not universal, but it's certainly a high percentage. Today, if you have a problem and contact someone, having them resolve it ON the first phone call is SO unusual that it's noteworthy. And God help you if you have to contact customer support (if they even HAVE customer support and they have a phone number). 99% likelihood you'll get some phone answerer off-shore that knows just enough to read through their script and can't actually do anything.

I don't know if it's because of the growing online business or the online business started because the brick and mortar stores were doing a poor job, but it's happened...


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## Elfiero (Apr 9, 2019)

Perhaps your wife "Karen" should speak to the manager.............


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## bisonp (Mar 23, 2018)

GracieAllen said:


> If there had been someone closer with Ariens I would have bought it there, but unfortunately, there weren't a lot of choices locally, and NONE of them were units that were easy to turn, which is why we ended up with the Ariens...
> 
> As for "these guys caused the problem, and are making you fix it for them".... These days, retail is a pit. The old model of service and return business is completely GONE. Very few places have anyone that knows much about the products, and most care even less. It's not universal, but it's certainly a high percentage. Today, if you have a problem and contact someone, having them resolve it ON the first phone call is SO unusual that it's noteworthy. And God help you if you have to contact customer support (if they even HAVE customer support and they have a phone number). 99% likelihood you'll get some phone answerer off-shore that knows just enough to read through their script and can't actually do anything.
> 
> I don't know if it's because of the growing online business or the online business started because the brick and mortar stores were doing a poor job, but it's happened...


It's hard to find competent help these days in nearly every field. We are seeing the results of decades worth of participation ribbon child rearing.


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## MSB1766 (Jan 25, 2019)

Once you get the charging cord according to the manual:
Fully Charge battery
Do not charge battery more than 48 hours
Battery should be charged every 3 months
The snow blower charges battery when in use at "Efficiency" or higher engine speed


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

Got the charging cord. Didn't pay for it. Don't know if they were expecting me to or not 'cause there were 2 people at the service desk, one of them knew about the cord, and handed it to me, but he couldn't stop conversing with the other person at the desk long enough to tell me anything. Waited about 5 seconds for SOME kind of interaction, got none, then walked out of the place.


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## GracieAllen (Oct 19, 2020)

Got the charging cord. Didn't pay for it. Don't know if they were expecting me to or not 'cause there were 2 people at the service desk, one of them knew about the cord, and handed it to me, but he couldn't stop conversing with the other person at the desk long enough to tell me anything. Waited about 5 seconds for SOME kind of interaction, got none, then walked out of the place.


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## Beanhead (Oct 17, 2021)

*GracieAllen So they gave you the warm fuzzy feeling, that's customer service at its best.*


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## Mountain Man (Oct 14, 2018)

GracieAllen said:


> Got the charging cord. Didn't pay for it. Don't know if they were expecting me to or not 'cause there were 2 people at the service desk, one of them knew about the cord, and handed it to me, but he couldn't stop conversing with the other person at the desk long enough to tell me anything. Waited about 5 seconds for SOME kind of interaction, got none, then walked out of the place.


Unfortunately common customer service these days. Best thing to happen was getting cord and walking out. I'd ccut ties and find a new dealer or learn the service points myself if possible.


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