# Advice on Ariens 1124 purchase



## jsl (Nov 15, 2012)

I looked at an 1124 pro that was for sale this weekend. It was in good shape and the owner was very meticulous about his maintenance an upkeep. The owner went through it all with me, ran it for about 10 minutes showing me that everything was functioning. When the blower was shut off I noticed some white smoke coming off the carburetor. Owner said that it was just because they do not have air filters an it would run better in the cold weather (was about 60 at the time). Wondering if this is normal. It is selling for $750...is this a good deal for this model?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Jon


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

*Ariens*

First off, welcome to the forum.

On your smoke question, is it coming off the outside of the carb or out the carb throat? If on the outside, I'd suspect something is being burnt off the block (like having degreased it) and it just appears to be off the carb. If it's coming out of the throat of the carb or exhaust after shutdown, I'd suspect it's either running hot or has some crap fuel in it if it hadn't been run for too long a time and the first time run this year.

If it was coming out the exhaust I'ld suspect either burning off oil (fogging oil or oil that got past the rings) but if it was fogging oil it should burn off quickly. I'd pull the spark plug and look for deposits and color and take a light and look down the plug hole and see if there's anything visible there.

Does it have an aroma? if you hold your hand in the fumes, do you feel or get any coating on your hand from it?

If you paint a muffler with header paint, it will smoke the first few times started but you can see it coming off the muffler.

If it was a water cooled engine like a car, that's usually coolant getting into a cylinder, but obviously that's not it on a air cooled engine. It could be moisture but how it's getting in there I don't have the faintest idea unless it's in the fuel. I'd look for a better explanation before putting alot of $$ down unless someone knows this to be normal with that engine.


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## jsl (Nov 15, 2012)

Thanks for the information. It seemed like the smoke was coming directly out of the carb. It was in under a cover so it was hard to see. It may have been the first startup of the season, I would have to ask.

Everything I read seems to say that the newer ariens aren't as good, mainly because of the Briggs an Stratton engines. Because of this I was looking for something a little older. 
Thanks for your help.


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## abumpa (Nov 21, 2010)

I have seen on occasion small whiffs of vapor (that look like white smoke) emanate from open carburetors at shutdown. I do not associate that with any particular problem. If it is vapor rather than smoke, and the machine appears to run well, I would not be concerned.


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## f2benny (Dec 18, 2012)

That is my impression that it's nothing to be concerned about. I have always wondered about the 1124 model though. Seems like a big motor for that bucket. Must gobble up the heavy stuff.


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