# New snowblower will not start



## ABINDY (Nov 24, 2015)

I am posting in the John Deere section because I bought this "Briggs and Stratton" snowblower from a John Deer dealership, and I couldn't find a briggs category on this forum. The engine is marked "1150 snow series." If this should have been posted elsewhere, I apologize in advance. Anyway, I bought this snowblower brand new last year, and I used it two or three times. ". At the end of the season, I didn't have any fueld stabilizer handy and the tank was less than 1/4 full, so I just ran the engine until the tank was dry and stored the unit in the shed. 
Now this November, I was preparing the machine for the upcoming season and I cannot get it to start. The fuel I am using is good, but the engine just cranks and does not catch. The unit does not have a fuel shutoff valve that I can find. I checked the plug and it is not fouled. I also checked the safety key/switch and it is behaving correctly. I am starting the unit using the correct procedure according to the manual (the manual is 90% safety warnings and 10% helpful information). I am at a loss at this point, not to mention very irritated. Before I go to all the trouble of hauling this thing back to the dealer, does anyone know of anything else that I can check? Was running the tank dry a bad move? I can't think of how this could have damaged anything, but I am no expert, so who knows!


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

ABINDY said:


> The fuel I am using is good, but the engine just cranks and does not catch. The unit does not have a fuel shutoff valve that I can find. I checked the plug and it is not fouled. I also checked the safety key/switch and it is behaving correctly. I am starting the unit using the correct procedure according to the manual (the manual is 90% safety warnings and 10% helpful information). I am at a loss at this point, not to mention very irritated. Before I go to all the trouble of hauling this thing back to the dealer, does anyone know of anything else that I can check? Was running the tank dry a bad move? I can't think of how this could have damaged anything, but I am no expert, so who knows!


I guess we have to start from the start in a logical way.
First I would remove the spark plug and leave it connected with the spark plug metal touching the metal at the edge of the spark plug hole with throttle if any at full crank it and see if you have a blue spark, doing this in a darker area helps a lot to see the spark. If yes with the spark then just before putting it back pour a bit of fresh gas in the hole then reinstall the spark plug and see when cranking it tries to start a bit.
If yes then with full choke and press the primer 3 times and crank if it doesn't start then remove spark plug and see if it is wet with gas.
If wet then it is simply flooded and blow the plug dry and crank many times without the plug in and then reinstall the plug and try to start it without adding any fuel with choke or primer. At this point you should report your findings to us and see what you need from there. Good Luck and :white^_^arial^_^0^_


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

try a new plug anyway. then check to see if the wires for the kill switch are loose, gummed up. or if something ate at them during the off months. I run all my stuff dry and never had a problem. so no you did not make a boo-boo doing that 1. k:k:k:k:k:


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## ABINDY (Nov 24, 2015)

Per instructions from Normex I was able to confirm spark. I then added some fuel into the hole, reinstalled spark plug and cranked and the engine it did fire for about a second. While I was in there, I disconnected the fuel line from the inlet on the carb, and the fuel is flowing freely to that point.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

Pull your bowl nut on the carb and carefully/slowly take it off. Note whether your float drops down or not. It may be varnished in the closed (up, won't drop down) position with the needle stuck shut. If it does drop down fuel should start coming out the inlet needle hole. If that's the case, take a can of carb cleaner with the red tube and spray right up the center stalk for a few seconds. Bowl back on and try again, may be enough to get you going.


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

ABINDY said:


> Per instructions from Normex I was able to confirm spark. I then added some fuel into the hole, reinstalled spark plug and cranked and the engine it did fire for about a second. While I was in there, I disconnected the fuel line from the inlet on the carb, and the fuel is flowing freely to that point.


 What you can try next is with the mouth of the carb open and with some WD-40, you can crank it and spray some in the carb and it should run maybe roughly but run. I would also try to tap the carb under the bowl with the end of a screwdriver handle to try to unlock the float pin and the float itself. you can tap fairly hard. At this point we are trying these steps without having to open the carb.


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## sscotsman (Dec 8, 2010)

Are you closing the choke when starting?

Scot


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## ABINDY (Nov 24, 2015)

Taking the bowl off did the trick. It was full of gas though, and the float did not seem to be stuck. But, after I put everything back together, it started after 5-10 seconds of cranking. Reassembled the cowling and then started again and ran engine for 10+ minutes with no problems. I guess I'm good to go. THANK YOU!!
Is there anything more I should be doing at the end of the season to avoid this hassle next year?


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## ABINDY (Nov 24, 2015)

sscotsman said:


> Are you closing the choke when starting?
> 
> Scot


I had it on full choke the first time I tried to start it. After that I tried it repeatedly with and without choke over a period of many hours.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

And this is why I don't run my equipment dry in the off season. I just use fresh, stabilized fuel and have never had a problem with sticking floats or needles valves, dry, shrunken gaskets or o rings. :2cents:
I know I'm in the minority on here but I do whatever works for me.


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## Normex (Feb 21, 2014)

ABINDY said:


> Taking the bowl off did the trick. It was full of gas though, and the float did not seem to be stuck. But, after I put everything back together, it started after 5-10 seconds of cranking. Reassembled the cowling and then started again and ran engine for 10+ minutes with no problems. I guess I'm good to go. THANK YOU!!
> Is there anything more I should be doing at the end of the season to avoid this hassle next year?


 Good show on the start, there isn't much more you can do than running everything dry. The ethanol in the US seems to be less distilled for having so many problems with the carbs gumming up, here in Canada I have no problem even if I don't add Stabil and starting the engine 5 to 6 months later gives no problem. Hopefully it stays that way. Good Luck all.


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## ABINDY (Nov 24, 2015)

Normex said:


> Good show on the start, there isn't much more you can do than running everything dry. The ethanol in the US seems to be less distilled for having so many problems with the carbs gumming up, here in Canada I have no problem even if I don't add Stabil and starting the engine 5 to 6 months later gives no problem. Hopefully it stays that way. Good Luck all.


Believe me, I'd love to tell the U.S. government exactly what they can do with their ethanol! Thanks again...


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## kwk11 (Oct 9, 2015)

My new machine took about 8 pulls to start a few weeks ago. I thought I'd start it up today for fun. It wouldn't fire after many attempts, actually backfired a few times so I turned the choke off and after many, many pulls, it started with huge amounts of black smoke. I then shut it down and tried to start it up warm, I had to use a little choke even warm to get it to start. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.


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## HJames (Oct 28, 2013)

ABINDY said:


> Taking the bowl off did the trick. It was full of gas though, and the float did not seem to be stuck. But, after I put everything back together, it started after 5-10 seconds of cranking. Reassembled the cowling and then started again and ran engine for 10+ minutes with no problems. I guess I'm good to go. THANK YOU!!
> Is there anything more I should be doing at the end of the season to avoid this hassle next year?



My guess is that there was a little gas left in the bowl from last year and it phase separated leaving water at the bottom of your carb bowl. Even when you added fresh gas the water remained at the bottom of the bowl where the jet pulls from preventing good gas from reaching the chamber, that is until you emptied it. Running the tank dry only works if you drain the carb bowl as well, otherwise you're better off leaving it with a full tank. Stabilizer of some kind is always a good thing.


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## liftoff1967 (Jan 15, 2014)

micah68kj said:


> And this is why I don't run my equipment dry in the off season. I just use fresh, stabilized fuel and have never had a problem with sticking floats or needles valves, dry, shrunken gaskets or o rings. :2cents:
> I know I'm in the minority on here but I do whatever works for me.


I follow the exact same process. Fill 'em full with fuel (I run stabilizer year around, put it in the can right at the pumps) and call it good, don't even shut off the gas valve.

To date, no issues.


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