# Another Toro 826 (ca 1979) Rebuild



## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Background

Because the scope of what I intend to do has changed, and more questions have come up, I decided to start this topic. At first I intended to fix the impeller (it's bent, including a bent blade) and install rubber wipers on the impeller. That thinking has changed so for now I intend to restore the auger assembly and to do the traction assembly next year.

Here's my original topic, which is where I left off: 

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...d-galvanize-impeller-instead-spray-paint.html

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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Now for something new. I tested for spark a few days ago, and it was good. What I didn't do was to check for no spark when I thought there should be no spark, and now I think I have a problem: No matter if the ignition key is on or off, I always have spark. Testing only the ignition switch, with it off the machine, there is never any continuity between terminals or between either terminal and the shell of the ignition switch regardless of the key position. So, to me it seems that once the snowblower is started I won't be able to use the ignition switch to shut it off and will have to engage the auger and release one of the deadman switches because they work just as they should.

Am I understanding this correctly?


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## 10953 (Sep 4, 2017)

first you're going to need a volt ohm meter set to ohms. 
there should be 2 wires at the switch, 1 will go to ground on the frame or engine the other to the coil/magneto. when the key is on it. the circuit should be open, meaning no ohm reading or route to ground, when in off it should go to ground. shorting out the coil.mag. shutting down the motor
another simple way would be remove the wires or plug from the switch , using a jumper wire, one should cause the engine to shut off,

there is also another ground built into the throttle linkage, when moved to full slow the motor should shut off more a built in fail safe


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Thank you - I will check the ignition switch again using the info you provided though I'll probably concentrate on finishing the auger assembly stuff first.


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## 38racing (Feb 19, 2014)

Any chance of getting a picture of the inside linkage of the steering rod to the piece that extends outside to the sliding bearing housing?


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

38racing said:


> Any chance of getting a picture of the inside linkage of the steering rod to the piece that extends outside to the sliding bearing housing?


Sure, if you still need it, sorry for the delayed reply. Do you mean the linkages from the clutch knobs? I have two clutch knobs - one for the right wheel and another for the left. See the attached picture; they are circled in yellow.

Edit: More pictures are added.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Forgot to mention that I'll be working on it later today (Saturday) anyway. Got the auger housing assembly reconnected to the traction assembly yesterday and ran it.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

87 powershift said:


> when the key is on it. the circuit should be open, meaning no ohm reading or route to ground, when in off it should go to ground. shorting out the coil.mag. shutting down the motor


Thanks - the switch is always open so it never shorts to ground in the off position. When replace it I will probably just use a toggle switch instead of a keyed switch.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

After the impeller was straightened and painted I decided to paint the rest of the auger housing assembly, but some things needed to be fixed first. The auger housing was bent; somehow the bottom of the right side was pushed forward. This can be seen on the right side in the picture. I used a pipe clamp and some beating with a hand sledge hammer (with a wooden block to cushion the blows) to straighten it.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

The auger housing side plates were also bent.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

The scraper was bent and unevenly worn. Afterwards I straightened it by hammering, painted it, and used self-drilling screws to fasten a steel bar to it, giving me a good edge.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

A polycarbide wheel in an angle grinder was used to remove most of the paint, sometimes a wire wheel was used too. The polycarbide wheel was from Harbor Freight and worked great - I was surprised at how quickly it removes paint - faster than a wire wheel. The wire wheel was used for rust. After the paint was removed I used phosphoric acid on all the metal parts to treat any remaining rust.

There were some gaps in the metal of the auger housing because of the way it was fabricated. Most noticeable was where the impeller housing cylinder meets the auger housing, and where the longest side of the discharge meets the auger housing. I thought about filling these but ultimately decided to leave them alone because after 38 years it wasn't rusted much at all there.

The warning decal on the auger housing was removed sometime after that picture was made.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

With the impeller off I traced the blade shape onto cardboard to use as a pattern for the wipers. I decided to make the wipers larger than the impeller blades because I wanted the impeller blades to extend from front to back the entire distance of the discharge opening. I also decided to make my wipers a bit wider across (impeller shaft on the inside side to the exterior side) so they extend a bit further inside, towards the impeller shaft, than the metal impeller blades did.

After the impeller and blades were bent back to what I thought was the correct factory shape, and the impeller was painted, I slid the impeller back on the shaft (no key or set screws) and temporarily reinstalled the gearbox, axles, and side plates of the auger housing with only a few nuts and bolts. Now the impeller was located in the correct location and also could be spun on the shaft.

I used the cardboard pattern and enlarged it a bit to make the wipers bigger than the impeller blades (like I wanted them to be), traced it onto the HDPE cutting board 3 times, and cut out the rough impeller wipers. Two indexing holes were drilled in each wiper (the first wiper was the pattern for the other two), a rod was run through all 3 wipers, they were clamped together, then belt sanded more closely to shape. This way they were all the same.

I marked the wipers where the bend should be, and made a bending jig from a pipe nipple between a tee and a check valve clamped to the workbench. Using a heat gun I was able to heat that area of the wiper I wanted to bend (heating both sides), slid the wiper into my bending jig, bent the wiper, and held it there a bit until it cooled. The first one I had to do a few times, but after learning to recognize the right bend angle by sight the other two were done in one or two goes.

From there I held a wiper against an impeller blade, marked the wiper with the contour of the impeller cavity, and used a belt sander to tweak each wiper to shape on the edge that meets the housing.

By simply holding a wiper against an impeller blade, then spinning it slowly by hand I was able to determine that the impeller blades were closest to the housing when any impeller was at about 7 o'clock (looking inside the housing from the front). In my case this distance was the close enough when the impeller rotated to the first edge of the discharge opening. I clamped the HDPE wiper against the impeller blade. By reaching in through the front of the auger housing I could hold the impeller with my left hand and keep it from rotating while I used self-drilling screws in the indexing holes I made in the wipers to fasten each wiper to the corresponding impeller blade.

It is worth mentioning that I used an 18 volt drill with my right hand, reaching in through the discharge opening, for the self-drilling screws. By listening to the strain on the drill motor it is easy to know when the screw tip is about to poke through the impeller metal, so the drill trigger can be released before any knuckle scrapes happen on the discharge flange.

With all 3 wipers fastened to the impeller and in the housing I was able to spin the impeller on the shaft by hand. Although it wasn't easy at first, after a few revolutions much less effort was required.

Next is to take the temporary assembly back apart and put it together the way it should be.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

After getting the auger housing assembly back together, there is still one thing that I really don't like about the snowblower. It would be a lot more comfortable for me if the snowblower handles were up about 3 inches so that I don't have to bend or hunch when holding them and using the snowblower.

I took the handles off, stuck a 4' length of 3/4" pipe in the short (upper) end, clamped down the long end in two places, and straightened out the bend. One picture is of one handle with the stock bend and the other handle after straightening, the other picture is of both handles straightened. Afterwards I used black undercoating on the handles and discharge chute crank rod.

I also painted the rims white. The tires have holes for studs so I might just stick some screws (heads first) in there for studs instead of using tire chains. Now if we only get enough snow to use the snowblower.

That's probably all I will do this year but next year I might paint the traction assembly and engine.

If anyone else wants to know, Rustoleum "Apple Red" paint is a very close match to Toro red.


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

looking good. Some great notes here on your process, thanks. Will be interesting to hear how much more you like the handle height adjustment.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

paulm12 said:


> looking good. Some great notes here on your process, thanks. Will be interesting to hear how much more you like the handle height adjustment.


Thanks - the hand grips are pretty close to horizontal now, which fits me much better. And that reminded me to post a few pics of the way it is now, waiting for a good snowfall.


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## 38racing (Feb 19, 2014)

AnOldGearhead said:


> Sure, if you still need it, sorry for the delayed reply. Do you mean the linkages from the clutch knobs? I have two clutch knobs - one for the right wheel and another for the left. See the attached picture; they are circled in yellow.
> 
> Edit: More pictures are added.


Thanks.
The 2nd picture is what I wanted although the outside pictures are helpful to verify what I thought. Unfortunately I am missing most of the parts.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

I got a chance to test it today and it worked well in the slushy snow that the street plow pushed onto the end of the driveway but there are still some things that need to be corrected:

*1.* Carb needs to be cleaned and and/or fuel mixture adjusted for full RPM.
*2.* Tires need studs or chains because they don't have enough traction as they are now.
*3.* It would be nice to be able to lower the skids to get the scraper bar closer to the pavement but the driveway is asphalt and is so bad and uneven that I'm afraid I would pick up too much debris (including asphalt chunks and gravel). Having the scraper bar closer to the ground would be OK for doing the driveway apron at the street and for the sidewalk because these are concrete and are also smoother. I'll have determine just how close I want the scraper bar to be.

Edit: A few more thoughts:
*4.* Electric tilt for the chute deflector would be nice to have. For now it is not a priority because the other things to fix are more important and for me it is easy enough just to lean forward and change the tilt by hand.
I think a good option for a tilt mechanism motor would be a windshield wiper motor for the rear window of a Mopar (Dodge / Chrysler / Plymouth) minivan because the ones I've seen:
*4a.* Are two speed - it might be useful;
*4b.* Have the electrical terminals electrically isolated from the metal body if for some reason I want to be able to reverse motor direction by using a switch that reverses polarity - this might not be needed because of 4c;
*4c.* Already have an oscillating motion built into the motor assembly so I should be able to do without limit switches or stops;
*4e.* The part of the wiper arm closest to the motor could be used as a bell-crank with a rod run to the chute handle. Disconnecting the arm from the motor for manual adjustment would be quick and simple (no tools needed, same as on a minivan) if something malfunctions while I need to use the snowblower;
*4f.* The wiper arm doesn't move after power is removed from the motor (I won't use the wiper arm park function).

*5*. To use a motor for turning the chute I'll think about using a wiper motor for the windshield. Unlike the rear wiper motor assembly these don't directly oscillate so a mechanical connection to the existing hand crank shaft using a belt and pulley(s) may be good to use.
*5a.* I think a pivoting motor bracket could be made to use the weight of the motor itself as the tensioning force, and if I don't let go of the switch before the chute turns to either end-of-travel the belt would simply slip.
*5b.* Using this arrangement I could always turn the crank by hand, even with the motor in place.
*5c.* Potential disadvantage: the crank handle still rotates whenever the motor turns so I have to make sure it doesn't hit me in the leg.


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

so the impeller mod worked well? Anything you would change there?

Thanks


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

paulm12 said:


> so the impeller mod worked well? Anything you would change there?
> 
> Thanks


The impeller mod worked fine when I tested it in slushy snow, so I'm happy with that, but the engine wasn't running as well as it should have (leaky float valve). I had considered making the HDPE impeller blades larger, giving them more surface area, by extending them further inside towards the impeller shaft, but decided to scale that back. This would have been the gray area in the attached image. The impeller spins so much faster than the auger that I don't think this would have made much of an improvement.

I think something worth trying might be to make the rear plate of the impeller round, and larger (just smaller than the inside diameter of the inside of the impeller housing), instead of the triangular shape from the factory, in order to better contain any slush to the impeller blades before the slush is flung out the chute.

I will have to wait until we do get some snow before I can use it again, and no snow is forecast for the upcoming week, but by then I should have a different carb installed. If I can find a good float valve I might swap that out first - the carb was rebuilt some time before I found the snowblower and the existing needle valve (must be aftermarket) looks like it has a rubber tip that is messed up.

Edit: Looks like that rubber tip is actually the seat and it should not have come out on the needle (one problem probably solved).


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## treysoucie (Jan 15, 2018)

Very cool. I think if I can't diagnose my carb on my 826 I may find an Oregon replacement China carb


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Maybe this post will help someone else.

The engine had been running, but it never seemed to be running as strong as it should be running, and to me it just didn't sound quite right. After a while longer, it began to run for a while, then would sputter and die out. Sometimes it would start again, run for a while, sputter, and die out. Other times I couldn't start it again.

I already had the carb apart a couple of times by now, and the first time this problem happened I (mistakenly) thought that I had something mis-adjusted or had put the carb together incorrectly. I did notice that someone else before me had tightened the main jet needle in too hard, and there as a mildly scored ring around it. I fixed that by folding a piece of sandpaper (400 grit that had been used) between my thumb and forefinger to form a vee, then pinching the tip of the needle between and turning the needle with my other hand, I was able to make the damaged area smooth again. So by now I was confident that I had the carb set up correctly.

I had already tested the spark by removing the spark plug, placing it on top of the head, pulling the starter cord, and looking for spark, but decided to do it again. Looking at the head where the spark plug is located I noticed that the top of the head was wet around the spark plug. Since I'm not one to crank down when tightening spark plugs (or oil filters) I first thought that the plug had somehow loosened, but it hadn't. Then I realized that the leak had been happening long enough to cause what I think are carbon deposits on the head between the cooling fins. This can be seen in the pictures, but they were made after I had already wiped out the grooves with a rag, so the pictures look better than what I first saw. I pulled the plug anyway, wiped it off, checked again for spark, had spark, and reinstalled the plug. I re-torqued the head bolts. Still no start, and unignited fuel is reappearing in the cooling fin grooves. Now I'm thinking I have a cracked head or worse.

I look more closely at the spark plug, pull the cord a bit more slowly, and see bubbles where the ceramic insulator meets the metal body of the spark plug. Looking again while turning the engine over slowly, I can see the bubbles forming. Glad I don't have a cracked head. Pull the spark plug out, test for spark, and I have spark. I've already decided to install a known good spark plug (from my lawn mower), but wire brush the old plug to do a color comparison of the color of the spark between the two spark plugs. I try the old plug again, and no spark! Forget about using the old plug at all. Now I install the known good plug, give it a pull, and it fires right up.

Let it warm up for 5 minutes, adjust the main needle, then idle needle and speed, and now it runs great and sounds like I expect.

The first picture shows the bad plug (removed), and also the residue from the leaked fuel can be seen around and above the installed good spark plug.

In the second picture, the dark area on the ceramic insulator that I've circled is residue from the leaking fuel.

The thing is, the bad plug looks like it was brand new. I have to wonder if this problem is why the previous owner decided to trash the snowblower...


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## tadawson (Jan 3, 2018)

It's not impossible, but for the two bucks a plug costs, I can't fathom spending much time debating replacing it . . . I always have a new one, gapped and ready, 'on deck'.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Because I saw spark several times when testing I was thinking that the problem was somewhere with the flo-jet carb. What I really dislike are those problems that come and go intermittently. Oh well, live and learn.


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## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

Here is some pics of the 826 I did over a couple of years ago.....did the valves, electronic coil, Chinese carb....some paint and fabricated a new tranny cover. I put the new carb and the snow box cover on after the pics.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Cool - thanks for the pics!


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## paulm12 (May 22, 2015)

thanks for the followup Gearhead. And the explanation. Yet another failure mode to remember when troubleshooting.


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

I was able to use the 826 when we got dumped on maybe a month ago, and here are some observations.

The tires were original and because of their design are no good on ice without using studs or chains. Even worse going uphill of course. The tires do have holes for studs but I used stainless steel screws instead. I just held the screw with vise-grips, dipped the head in soapy water, and pushed the head into the hole until it bottomed out. This was in a heated garage so the tires weren't cold. I used screws that were too long so I ended up using end-cutting pliers to cut off the extra threaded length of each screw. After that, traction was as it should be, even on ice.

The impeller mod worked well, even in slush. I did have one spot where the slush was coming out of the chute kind of like a Slushy or Icee drink comes out of the dispenser but that only lasted a few moments and the chute never clogged.

I did run into a good size branch that was under the snow and later saw that I broke the tip off of one my impeller wipers (I made mine from an old HDPE cutting board). I had already made some spares and it was simple enough to replace the broken wiper.

The sidewalk I clear is heaved from tree roots underneath, and part of the driveway that I cleared had chunks of broken asphalt, so my skids are almost all the way down. The skids can get hung up on sections of heaved sidewalk, so I had to make kind of a steel approach angle that goes from the curved front portion of the sides of the auger housing to the angled-up front of the skids. This way the machine can gradually ride up any heaved sidewalk sections instead of having the front of the skids crash into the heaved sidewalk and stopping the forward motion of the machine. 

It's easy to see why the auger housing was bent - if the bottom of the housing gets hung up on something with the wheels driving forward, the traction unit has so much torque that wheels will keep turning and the housing will bend. That almost happened to me.

I have an area to clear where there are buildings with glass on 3 sides of that area, and turning the chute by hand is just too slow. It is also a pain to have to stoop down so often to reach the rod handle. Over the summer I'll hook up a motor to turn the chute.

Moving the vertical deflector up or down is easy enough because I can reach that handle by leaning forward from between the handlebars.

I had to clear some snow from the street, parallel to the direction of traffic and next to the curb, so that when the plow came by again it wouldn't push that snow onto the driveway where I had already cleared the snow. A taller chute, higher than the snowbank, would be helpful so that I could point the vertical deflector downward and only throw the snow a few feet next to where I am clearing. I did the street in front of a few of the neighbors' houses too and it wasn't easy, when I had to keep the deflector pointing upwards in order to clear the snowbank, keeping the snow I was throwing off of the sidewalks where someone else had already cleaned.

In powdery snow that isn't too deep, even 3rd speed seems a little too slow so I'll have to see if I can change an adjustment so that the machine travels a bit faster. 

Overall the machine worked very well. I was a little surprised that it could keep going through snow (I'm not in 3rd speed now) that is the full width and height of the auger bucket - this thing just doesn't stop.


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## creeve4 (Dec 16, 2015)

AnOldGearhead said:


> I took the handles off, stuck a 4' length of 3/4" pipe in the short (upper) end, clamped down the long end in two places, and straightened out the bend.


 @AnOldGearhead
How did you get the grips off?


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## AnOldGearhead (Nov 18, 2017)

Sorry for the late reply but here's how I did it:

First I warmed them up with a blow dryer to soften them and make them more flexible. I thought about using a heat gun but that's much too hot. Then I used a little Craftsman flat blade screwdriver (shaft only about 3" long and the the blade less than 1/8" wide) and pushed it a bit - not up to the handle - under the hand grip, pulled the screwdriver out, moved over a bit, repeated, and worked my way around the hand grip to break that portion away from the handlebar. By looking at the hand grip you'll see it expand as you insert the screwdriver and can determine what insertion depth is sensible without the screwdriver tearing the hand grip. After that I used my fingertips and grabbed the front of the hand grip, then pulled it towards the rear of the handlebar. This compressed the hand grip and made the inside diameter of the grip expand, helping the rear-most portion of the grip that I couldn't get to with the little screwdriver expand too and peel away from the metal handlebar. After I got them off it seems the hand grips had never been removed before.


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## creeve4 (Dec 16, 2015)

AnOldGearhead said:


> Sorry for the late reply...


Better late than never! Thank you! I haven't gotten to bending the handles yet, this definitely helps.


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