# New (November 2019) 826 OAE - Surging under load



## spiff72 (Jan 18, 2020)

Hello all,

Looking for some advice on how to proceed with this snowblower, as it surges pretty badly under load. It runs very well under no load, and when the throttle is reduced. I have used it a total of 4-5 times this season (it hasn't snowed much this season here in Michigan). I would say it is getting worse, or perhaps today's usage was just heavier wetter snow than I have had in the past. 

I bought gas for it and StaBil and treated the gas as soon as I bought it. Obviously this gas is now about 3 months old now, and I am thinking of just dumping the rest of that can into one of our cars, and trying to find some ethanol free gas (I think a station down the street has it for about $4/gallon), but I am leery of buying from that station since it was the source of gas I bought right after I bought my LAST Toro snowblower 20 years ago. That one had to go back to the dealer after the first run because it would run just briefly (at least that is my recollection - it was a long time ago). The dealer said they found metal flakes in the carb and cleaned it out. Since it was bad gas I was out about $200 for the service call (and pickup/dropoff). I ended up inspecting the gas in the plastic "can" it was in, and sure enough there were shiny flakes in it. I have to assume that it came out of the nozzle that way.

Other than finding some ethanol free gas, is there anything else that can be done? I may try draining the carb and inspecting there... I also read elsewhere in these forums about re-jetting with a .032" - but I am not sure where to even source this from.

Thanks!


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## Shovel (Mar 26, 2019)

The low speed circuit actually supplies most of the fuel for no load full throttle.. so you could still be starving a bit on the main even though your no load full throttle doesn't hunt.
Give it a touch of choke . If the problem goes away ... Then I suspect your carb is partially clogged.
Dump the fuel...get that alcohol free fuel.. put a dose of techron in there..or if you have seafoam.. about four ounces for a gallon.
I have had stabil seperate then clod together down in the bottom of the carb.
You should drain the carb bowl..and see what you have going on in there..it could be nasty...the main jet is easy to clean
You could also have a fuel delivery problem... clogged screen etc in which case you are running lean under a full load...First symptom of this is it will be better with a full tank of fuel and get worse as you use fuel up.



Sent from my LM-Q710.FG using Tapatalk


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## notabiker (Dec 14, 2018)

Eh, I always put Sta-bil in my cans before even leaving the house to fill them. Never once had an issue with it plugging anything and I have way too many small engine toys so you'd think it would have happened once in the decade I've been using it. Heck 90% of the time I'm running the 85 octane ethanol stuff in everything.


If you live in Colorado then there are Murphy Express gas stations that all pretty much have an 87 octane ethanol free on its own hose too!! And last time I was at one the ethanol free was something like 10 cents more a gallon than the ethanol 87 octane stuff.


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## strtch5881 (Oct 6, 2018)

I clean a lot of carburetors and I can tell you, for small engines, alcohol free fuel only. Many service calls are because of fuel with ethanol. Even worse for 2 cycle engines, the oil separates from the gas and scores the cylinder. Always pay the extra for good gas and your machines will take care of you.


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## spiff72 (Jan 18, 2020)

Thanks for the replies! I have already dumped the fuel in the can into my car, and I will be buying some ethanol free this afternoon. I found a new-ish gas station near me that appears to have a dedicated pump for this fuel. I will also look for some Techron or Seafoam, and I will try to pull the bowl off the carb and take a look in the near future.

I actually did try running with a small amount of choke last night and it didn't help much (but maybe I didn't choke it enough).


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## snowy_maine (Nov 21, 2018)

I have a newer (2016?) 724 with the 212 cc engine. Mine started surging a bit under moderate load, say trying to blow 4-6 inches of snow, but ran fine when the governor kicked in under heavier loads. This was only a month or so after I bought it, so I brought it back to the dealer. I watched the tech pull the jet, check the carb, and pronounce it clean. The problem persisted, however, and I was not happy with surging in a new machine. Based on research I did here and other locations, I re-jetted the carb. My memory is that the stock jet is 0.028", and I went up to (I think) 0.031". I did not bother to change the emulsion tube. The machine has run great ever since (2+ seasons). While my problem manifested itself a bit differently, you might want to consider re-jetting if problems persist. It is simple, reversible if it does not work, and a jet is only a few dollars.


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## barney (Nov 21, 2017)

You should also put a new quality plug in it. Apparently the plugs they put in them from new are dodgy and often only last 10-15 hours before your engine starts running like crap. That happened to me on a Toro with 15 hours on it. New plug and now running like new again.


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## spiff72 (Jan 18, 2020)

Resurrecting this thread from last season - I swear I replied to it back then, but apparently I didn't...

I ended up throwing three new variables into the equation last season:

New plug
New ethanol free gas
Seafoam

The combination of all these items seemed to help a lot - no more surging.

Now that I have used it a few times this year, the surging seems to be back. The first snowfall was relatively light, and I didn't notice the surging that time. However, this morning I ran it through some heavy wet snow and the surging was very noticeable again. I am still running the ethanol free gas, but this time, I didn't have any seafoam - so maybe the seafoam was actually the magic bullet last year (or the plug is iffy after a short season last year and storage?). I guess I will be getting some more seafoam here and seeing if that makes the difference!


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