[tomkatohio]

I picked up an older Ariens ST824 snowblower and have replaced the impeller bearing and auger bushings and done cleanup on the rest of the machine. I used it this past weekend on 12" of snow and it worked great! The only problem I've been having is that the clutch won't completely disengage and the machine will continue to more forward or backward when the clutch handle is released.

I have attempted adjustments as per the owners manual, and regardless of the position of the adjustment nut the drive disk will not separate from the friction disk so I never have a position where the wheels turn freely. Is it possible the clutch fork is broken or that the spindle housing is rusted and preventing the drive disk from moving in and out on the shaft?

Thanks for any suggestions.

T

 

[BOSMECH]

First put it up on the auger bucket end (drain fuel first) then take the bottom cover off and do an inspection if everything looks good then give it a good lube job and make sure that everything works freely.

 

[Shryp]

I had one that I thought the spring was broke on as I could depress the handle, but it would not come back up unless pulled back. When I took it apart I found that the grease on the shaft that slides back and forth was just really caked up and sticking. I sprayed it down with PB Blaster, then poured some oil on it and that fixed it. I did find one report recently of someone else that had the fork that slides it back and forth broken. While you have it apart push the lever back and forth to see what moves and oil all the moving parts good. Also check to make sure the return spring is connected.

 

[tomkatohio]

Creeping ST824 Update

I finally had a chance to break the unit down to locate the source of the problem. I took off the drive pulley and found that the sliding shaft that is moved by the clutch lever and moves the drive disk in and out is locked up. The drive plate was all the way out and would not retract regardless of the adjustments.

I tried to loosen the sliding shaft from the pulley side of the unit, but it won't budge. Now I think I need to remove the entire drive plate and shaft out the front of the machine and hopefully I can free it up and replace it. Right now, it looks like I need to remove an axle to do this. Any tips on this??

Thanks,
Tom

 

[td5771]

if you want I have an ariens in the garage waiting for parts. I took out the friction disc and the drive plate. real easy. I can give you some direction if it is the same model number or drive set up. this one is a 932101

 

[tomkatohio]

Mine is a 924050 ST824.
I'm not sure if these are similar. I located some replacement parts on eBay.
I removed the friction disk with the rubber edge. Did you have to remove any drive shafts to get the flat drive disk out?
Thanks

 

[Simplicity Solid 22]

Is the right drive belt on there??? Too tight??

 

[td5771]

different set up

What is making it stick? rust? gunk? maybe some penetrating oil on it now that the friction wheel is out and you have some room to work.

the spindle the drive plate rides on is prob stuck in the bearings and bearing housing numbers 5,6,7,8 on the figure 6.2

otherwise go here:
http://apache.ariens.com/manuals/000123A.pdf

and read 6.3 and 6.4

 

[tomkatohio]

Thanks for the comments. The belt is off and there is still no movement in the drive disk. Thanks td5771 Based on the diagram on page 6-2 the parts involved are #5,6, 7 and 8. They are probably rusted up since 7 doesn't move in 8. It's supposed to slide back and forth moving the drive disk toward and away from to the friction disk. It interesting that paragraph 6-4 just says to "remove the drive spindle from the frame"! Sounds easy but I think I'll have to remove the carrier shaft (#15) to get the assembly out.. 5,6,7 and 8 will come out the back but the drive plate and spindle need to go out the front. In the diagrams, it looks like the spindle is threaded on the drive plate. Any ideas if this can be unbolted from the back of the unit? If it was removed from the friction disk, I could probably pull it out the front and replace it.
Thanks again,
Tom

 

[td5771]

I believe it all has to come out. 3rd part of 6.4 says to remove friction wheel carrier. to do that follow 6.3, it all has to come out. friction wheel/carrier/shaft.

These jobs are a pain on older machines. for example the one I just took apart took 20 minutes to remove the rear axle and take out the friction disc and the drive plate, no problem, a little stuck but came right out.

on the other hand I had an old bolens and it took 2 1/2 hrs to get 1/2 of the axle out just to spen another 1 1/2 hrs to get the carrier out to change the disc.

Some go easy, some go kicking and screaming.

dont think it is threaded, if it was it would risk coming unthreaded in forward or reverse if it met enough resistance when working

 

[tomkatohio]

Thanks again td5771. I feel your pain. I have already broken a few bolts trying to loosen them. Will probably end up replacing them also. I swear I saw somewhere that the shafts were left-hand threaded to reduce the un-threading problem, bit can't find that reference again. May have been on another model or manufacturer forum I saw somewhere else. Even if they were threaded, I'm not sure how you'd secure the disk enough to unscrew the shaft.

 

[tomkatohio]

I did need to remove the fiction disk shaft and almost all of the drive gears to remove the friction disk assembly. When I did get it out, it took a few substantial blows on a socket placed over the sliding assembly to break it loose. The clutch would have never moved it, so I think this was definitely my problem. I purchased a reconditioned unit and will have it back in soon.