Salute….

 

That's a tough break on the Briggs engine. I like those gas caps that have a built-in fuel gauge.

 

Nice herd, good to see ya again. 🍻

I like those gas caps that have a built-in fuel gauge.

Those are available in all different lengths to suit various tanks via the usual various online vendors... I've replaced a couple that had got hard to read.

 

Quick update:

IT. IS. ALIIIIIVE!

I have it running about half throttle here so it doesn't make anyone deaf

I couldn't wait, I knew that it ran on ether, so I wanted to get it running as soon as I could before it got too cold. I pulled the carb, cleaned it out really well, but I couldn't see any issues with it, no gunk or water that would have stopped it from running, but I did all the things and was able to finally get it running without ether. However, it still will not start without the starter, maybe the carb needs some adjustment? Even after it's been running and turned off, it won't start unless I use the starter, so something to look into next year.

Some things I noticed while it was running:

It doesn't make any weird clunks or other concerning noises.
The muffler glows cherry red where it bolts to the engine and if you look down the exhaust outlet, it looks like the pits of Hell. Maybe the muffler is rotting out?

So, what's in store for this machine? All sorts of goodness to be had.

1: New bracket for the choke knob/handle. You can see it bouncing around a bit in the video (I also have the snow cover off right now, so it's really noticeable).
2: Rewire the light. Needs the ground replaced, but it does work at least.
3: Repair/replace the fuel tank. It has a small crack and I can’t fill it more than halfway.
3a: Replace the fuel shutoff valve the previous owner added, it leaks.
4: Larger bolts in the chute deflector. It works, but if you push it too far forward, the enlarged holes cause it to slip forward and it binds on the chute so you can't pull it back.
5: Somehow tighten up the bar that holds the bucket to the tractor. I think I can add some kind of sleeve and weld it in, the brackets look worn.
6: Possible starter replacement. The starter I have worked, but I think after sitting for a few years caused it to start going bad, it’s makes a really loud squealing noise like when bearings go bad (maybe I can pull it apart and lube it up?).
7: Figure out why it won’t start without the starter
8: Just misc. things to make it look and work better, replace worn out bits and other tiny things here and there.

 

Seems to me that your problem might be a stuck or burnt exhaust valve. That would cause lack of compression making it hard to start on the one or two firing strokes of the rope starter, but eventually the electric start will get it to fire. Might try a compression and/or a leak down test. A leaking exhaust valve would also overheat the exhaust.

 

i like how the mower snuck into the blower group photo

 

Vertical crank engines are notable photo bombers...

 

Wel, even with starting fluid, you have to crank and crank before it finally turns over.

This drives me absolutely nuts. "Turns over" has NOTHING to do with whether an engine fires or starts or runs. If the crank rotates that's "turning over" I never knew why people got the idea that it has to fire and run to "turn over".
"Won't turn over" usually came in cold weather, dead battery, stuff and you hit the key and the engine won't spin. NOT whether it fired and or ran.

 

This drives me absolutely nuts. "Turns over" has NOTHING to do with whether an engine fires or starts or runs. If the crank rotates that's "turning over" I never knew why people got the idea that it has to fire and run to "turn over".
"Won't turn over" usually came in cold weather, dead battery, stuff and you hit the key and the engine won't spin. NOT whether it fired and or ran.

Eh, I was tired, it was cold-ish, I wasn't doing brain things. It would turn over and over before it finally fired, but it just would not stay running no matter what I did.

And on that note, they aren't called hot water heaters because why would you heat your hot water?

 

gonna burn out ur startah.....

 

We've all suffered from "frozen brain syndrome". Clearly everyone understands the issue so let's just get on with fixing it.

Regards,

 

I see a tear down and paint job comjng for next summer? get it running good and a new paint job and I think It'll be ready for the next 20 years or more!

 

I too suspect anything else before rings. To lose all compression during the off season is a new and interesting puzzle (at least for me). My first guess is a valve froze open while in storage..... On the 520 the armature is certainly good if it cranks and cranks. Sheared flywheel keys are more of a lawnmower failure because they are capable of a sudden hard stop with no belts (or auger drive, ouch) in the line to absorb the momentum. I've never seen it on a snowblower. And yes I have a problem but accepting that is the first step toward recovery.

 

Really curious about the Briggs failure. What is the model number? Is it a "real" Briggs or a China motor with Briggs stickers on it? This idea may not be helpful as I have never seen it happen on a 4 stroke, but I have resurrected numerous 2 strokes with no compression by filling the cylinder with Marvel Mystery Oil and let it sit for several weeks. How did you determine bad rings? Leak down test? Did you check valve lash?

 

So, I did some poking around the different parts sites and there is (supposedly) an optional batter tray that mounts to the bucket. I don't see any reason for it, anyone that can clear up what it's for? This is more a curiosity than anything.

 

When I get more time to tear the Briggs engine down, I'll know more, but I did poke a bore scope down into the cylinder and I could see oil pooled up around the top of the piston and I had not had it tilted on the bucket. I actually didn't think about a stuck valve, but it was running during the summer (last year), then in the fall (last year, again) I went to start it up and that's when I discovered the problem.

My current work space doesn't lend me a lot of room to really do some major testing on it. We're gonna build an addition onto our boat barn (and dad is going to sell his sailboat) and we're gonna turn it into a big workshop. I didn't put too much into it because I had that unpictured Yard Machines blower and it got me through the winter, so it wasn't really high on the priority list of things to work on.

 

So, onto new about the ST1032, I did some more work over the past couple days. I bought some half inch bolts to fill the holes of the shroud on the discharge chute so it doesn't bind up on the end. I also re-cleaned the carb and while it still takes a few pulls, it will finally start without the need for the starter.

What's the procedure for adjusting the carb? It would surge when throttling down, but I found a jet outside just above the fuel bowl (it had a little rubber cover on it), I took it out and cleaned it, that seemed to help just a bit, but I can't throttle it down halfway without it stalling out and if I put it on 1/4 choke, it actually sounds like it runs better, like it's getting too much fuel on no choke. Maybe the float needle needs a slight bit of adjustment?

I haven't worked enough on carbs to really know a lot of the ins and outs, I usually tear down what can be, clean them out, then go back to using them, but I'd like to know more. Youtube vids only help so much when it's a specific carb you need to know about.

 

What's the procedure for adjusting the carb? It would surge when throttling down, but I found a jet outside just above the fuel bowl (it had a little rubber cover on it), I took it out and cleaned it, that seemed to help just a bit, but I can't throttle it down halfway without it stalling out and if I put it on 1/4 choke, it actually sounds like it runs better, like it's getting too much fuel on no choke. Maybe the float needle needs a slight bit of adjustment?

This is for Honda carburetors, but is fairly universal...

 

Oh, wow, that is an awesome sheet, I'll have to keep that handy

I think next year I'll pull it all apart again and run it through my ultrasonic cleaner. I've learned some tricks to using it that make things clean up really well.

 

Was able to take the new machine out today. We didn't have a lot of snow, maaaybe 4in total, but it already started melting in the 40 degree weather we had today. It's amazing how much faster you get work done going from a 24" machine to a 32" machine. With a 20 yard driveway that is just about two cars wide, every inch makes a difference.

It performed well for a worn out commercial machine, nothing serious to report that would keep it from running.

Some things I learned:

Having properly inflated tires is essential (when isn't it, though?). I found out the left tire was below the recommended 14psi and it was causing me to fight the machine because it wanted to track left really hard. I topped off both tires and it was fine.

I'm thinking the carb is cooked, it has multiple issues. It hunts for idle when at low throttle (and getting it to throttle down is a task, it just doesn't seem to respond to the lever very well), even after cleaning it multiple times and trying to adjust the jet on the side. The arm that swings the choke plate is just a bit loose (not surprising, the bracket that holds the choke knob shaft was completely worn out, see the pic below). It leaks when I prime it, a new seal would solve that, but I'm thinking it might be better just to replace it. It almost acts like choke is sitting between off and 1/4, like it was getting too much fuel and then it would mellow out a bit. I only noticed it a couple times, but it's an old engine too, could be anything.

I have to push down ever so slightly on the grips when in reverse or the transmission slips. The hooks that hold the bucket onto the bar at the bottom of the tractor are worn out and if I put it in reverse, it won't move if the bottom starts separating (and by that I mean, it makes a gap maaaaaybe a 1/4" wide). Forward gears don't seem affected. Must be the friction disk is in just the right spot to cause it problems.

It doesn't throw very far, but that might just be the heavier snow.

Things I did after buying and prior to running it:

Replaced the fuel line (just today), the old one snapped off after the single digit temps we had a few days ago, lost an entire tank of fuel because I didn't turn the shut off valve.

Cleaned off the 20+ years of grease from wherever the previous owners sprayed it to reduce wear. The worst was the gear for the chute control. I had to use a torch to heat it all up and melt it out, then hit it with brake cleaner to clean it. It turns so quick and smooth now.

Rewired the light, it actually still works.

Replaced the bracket that holds the choke knob shaft (including a pic of the old one)

 

Well... we got about eight inches of snow over the past couple of days and I decided it was time to give the 32" machine a ride and... no bueno. Thankfully, I had the Yard Machines as a backup, so I wasn't left in the cold... literally.

Since I got it, the thing has been hard starting, I think I'm sucking air into the carb because it drips when I prime it and I have to pump the primer button 5-10 times to get it to pop off. When it's running, I get into the snow and it just starts to bog down, like the governor isn't reacting properly and if I let it go long enough, it'll stall it out.

Strange to think that the four inches of snow we had when I last tried it was kind of heavy and it seemed ok, but it just couldn't handle what I was trying to move it through.

I already had the carb apart and cleaned it out, but since this was (apparently) used as a commercial machine and with the repair I did above, I'm aiming for the carb being completely shot. I also need to check that the arm for the governor is working ok too, but it's a bit too cold right now to diagnose anything. The downside of not having a shop to work in.

I'm definitely not a master at working on small engines, so any other advice is appreciated as well.

 

Some things I can highly recommend for cleaning a carb is the HF ultrasonic cleaners.

I have 2 Honda eu2000i generators and they started skipping and would quit running when I engaged the idle control. I cleaned the carbs 2 separate times and no joy. Bought an ultrasonic cleaner and put them in for about 4 sessions and that was the trick. It got some gunk out of what I thought was clean carburetors.

We have a 36" that I put the HF 459cc Predator engine on and even though brand new, I had to disable the low oil shutdown system because it was too sensitive, even with 0w20 full synthetic oil. It is also cold blooded, so as soon as I shut engine down I also move the choke into the full on position, to put some extra fuel into the carb. Then I return it to the off position and it almost always starts with 1 pull.

Increasing the power was the best thing I ever did.

 

Don't knock your little 520, after some mods they are a fantastic machine, mine is a little "Monster" snow blower.

 

Ha, that little 520 isn't even running right now, I have to wait for warm weather so I can pull the flywheel off to see if the key is sheared. It wants to run, it just doesn't stay running and my dad said the way I described it, it could be a sheared key.

I'll try the ultrasonic cleaner when, again, it gets warmer.

The one with the practically brand new Briggs, though... ugh.

 

Alright, I ended up purchasing a new carb for the ST1032. I'll keep the other around and clean it, but the one I bought was a direct match (yeah, it's from China) for what's on the machine and it came with a bunch of other bits I can use for later projects. My main two reasons for just replacing it were the plates that hold the linkage for the governor and the choke arm were well worn out. The choke knob would bounce around (and that was after I replaced the mounting bracket) and in attempting to diagnose why it was running so badly, I figured a wallowed out hole that holds governor linkage could also contribute to the issue (even if only slightly).

The new carb did work. Once I got the fuel to actually fill into the carb, it took only four pulls to get it running and I didn't have to keep it choked to keep it running. After that, a single pull each time compared to the 2-3 it would take before.

Well, the carb wasn't the only problem, I discovered. While the machine did run much better, it was still bogging down to the point that it wanted to stall (by this point, the snow is down to about six inches, but it's melting and heavy). I noticed the throttle was really stiff, so I hit it with some lube and worked it free, but still it wanted to stall. As it was running, I started to work the arm that is just behind the throttle lever and I noticed that the RPM's were higher than when I originally got it. I ran it through the snow again and while it still sounded like it was bogging, it wasn't acting like it wanted to stall. Starting to think I might have to remove that whole assembly and really clean it out. Also, I figure that old Techumseh has seen some things in its life. I'm noticing little things all over that show it was a very abused, but cared for machine.

So, looks like I have a new summer project among the 1000 others. Woo!