# Auger Engagement Lock stuck in place



## Brother_Ent (Jan 8, 2022)

Husqvarna ST 224

When holding down the Drive engagement along with the Auger engagement there is suppose to be a metal piece that locks it down.

Right now the engagement lock on the auger side is stuck in the locking place. Pressing the drive lever down does not move the engagement lock anymore.

It appears they are linked via cable but I dont see an issue with the cable or anything else between the two.

Can I get any help as to what may be the cause of this?


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## BullFrog (Oct 14, 2015)

Hi and welcome to SBF.

The ST 224 has been around for a while and over the years a few things have changed in their design. Can you give the model and serial number found on the ID plate and/or photo of where the problem might be. Perhaps someone will recognize what's missing or out of place.


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## dr bob (Dec 12, 2015)

Is the machine sitting outside in sub-freezing conditions? I had an issue with water gathered in that little cross-cable freezing and maintaining the latching hook under tension. Mine normally lives in a CC garage, so no problems appeared until I was out for a bit and the water in there froze.

Solution: Thawed it out (easy in that CC garage workshop). Disconnected the cable right side, and dropped the end of the cable housing to let any water in there fall out. Follow the water with WD40 ("Water Displacer 40"), and follow that with a little spray silicone lube. Then double-checked the little fittings on the ends that are supposed to keep water out of the cable casing... Grease will do that sort of, in a pinch. Anyway, reconnected the cable, lubed the little hooked arm where it latches over the pin on the right handle, and called it good. That was a couple seasons ago, no further issues.


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## Brother_Ent (Jan 8, 2022)




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## Brother_Ent (Jan 8, 2022)

dr bob said:


> Is the machine sitting outside in sub-freezing conditions? I had an issue with water gathered in that little cross-cable freezing and maintaining the latching hook under tension. Mine normally lives in a CC garage, so no problems appeared until I was out for a bit and the water in there froze.


I keep mine out of the weather but it has always been in sub-zero temps. I thought maybe that it could have been frozen as well at first but I tested the mechanism when we had a 3 day spurt of plus 5-10(c) temps and I had the same issue.


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## dr bob (Dec 12, 2015)

Brother_Ent said:


> I keep mine out of the weather but it has always been in sub-zero temps. I thought maybe that it could have been frozen as well at first but I tested the mechanism when we had a 3 day spurt of plus 5-10(c) temps and I had the same issue.


You can pretty easily watch to see if that little hook moves back and forth as you operate the auger drive handle. The little button/post that the hook latches over is supposed to be lubricated. I'll speculate that wear would deepen the hook, and leave it maybe a little less willing to release. The actual mechanism for the interlock cable and the hook is amazingly simple, and easy to remove, dry out, lubricate or replace pieces, reinstall.


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## distrbd (Dec 8, 2021)

Thanks for the tip dr bob, that little hook in my st224 was starting to not release but since the machine is new I thought there had to be a simpler reason for it and sure enough all it needed was a bit of white lithium grease . now it is working as it should.


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