You wake up on a cold, February morning to eight inches of snow on the ground, only to find that your gas snowblower won’t start. The last thing you want to do is clear your entire driveway by hand with a shovel.
Before you panic, try these troubleshooting techniques that could save you a lot of time, hassle, and a trip to the repair shop. Follow each of these techniques from Blain’s Farm & Fleet in order, until your snow blower start-up issue is fixed.
First, double check that there’s fresh, clean gasoline in the fuel tank of your snow blower. Fuel problems are a common reason why your snow blower may not start.
If your gas has been sitting in the snow blower for six months or more, it has likely absorbed moisture. This will lead to stale fuel and cause it to not work properly.
Additionally, if you didn’t add fuel stabilizer to the gas before you stored it, the fuel may have lost some vitality. In either case, drain your gas tank, and fill it back up with fresh gasoline that doesn’t contain any ethanol.
Older gas can also form gummy deposits in your fuel filter and fuel line. This can negatively impact fuel flow. So look into this as well and replace if needed.
When checking on your fuel lines, keep in mind they can crack or become damaged. So it’s a good idea to check for these issues, too. When you have a clean fuel filter and fuel line, your carburetor is able to function properly.
Be sure that you place the fuel shutoff valve in the “on” position. This sounds silly, but it’s something that can easily slip your mind if you haven’t used your snow blower in a few months.
Some snow blower engines also have a safety key switch and a red toggle switch. Double check to make sure you have the key properly inserted into the key holder. And make sure you have the toggle switched in the “run” position.
If you fail to flip either one of these switches to the proper position, you will not be able to start your snow blower. In fact, you may even flood your engine if you attempt to start your snowblower under these conditions.
To start up your snow blower when the engine is cold (which is almost always the case), use the full-choke mode.
Check the temperature outside to determine whether or not you need to prime your snow blower. If it is below freezing outside, you will want to prime the carburetor to help get it running. However, if it is warm outside, skip priming, as this may flood the engine.
Double check that you have your throttle positioned three quarters or higher.
If you’ve performed all the previous steps up until this point, your issue may be something mechanical. The first part you want to check is your spark plug.
Remove the spark plug, and look for the three common issues: fuel on the spark plug, an issue with the spark plug gap, or a crack in your spark plug.
If there’s fuel on your spark plug, it likely means you flooded your snow blower engine trying to start it. So simply clean the fuel off your spark plug.
The gap between your feeler gauge and electrodes must be the right size. If the gap is too wide or too narrow, the feeler gauge will not catch the electrodes, which will cause your spark plug to malfunction. You want the feeler gauge to go through the gap on the spark plug fairly easily so that it just catches the electrodes.
Each type of snow blower requires a specific spec size for the feeler gauge, so refer to your snow blower manual. Read our step-by-step guide on how to gap spark plugs.
If your spark plug is cracked, you will not be able to repair it. You will have to buy a new spark plug and install it.
If you are having trouble starting your machine and have ruled everything else out up until this point, you may have a faulty electric starter. Some snow blowers have electric start engines, and they tend to wear out over time.
You can get this part replaced at the small engine repair shop at your local Blain’s Farm & Fleet store.
For more snow blower tips and guides, check out our other Outdoor Equipment & Tools articles.
