Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My 3650 (2yrs old) runs fine for about 20 mins in fairly deep snow then it loses power and can only throw snow about 1 ft and will stall on 3-4 inchs of snow -gas is new, belt doesn't appear to slip, sparkplug ok. It's about -15C here so it is fairly cold. I've taken it inside to warm it up and after 1 hr inside it'll run great under load for a while then the whole scenario repeats itself.

Called dealer and he says carb is freezing up. Had a problem last yr with some type of overflow cup that needed to be inverted so carb wouldn't freeze up. Thought problem was fixed but this is ridiculous. If this is how this machine performs Toro should sell a hairdryer with each machine so you can thaw out the carb every 30min.

Anyone else experience this problem? The snow is pretty deep here for this machine -probably 1-2 ft especially in drifts but I expect this machine to be able to handle it without much problem.

Not sure exactly why you are having the freeze up problems.

The set up on my 3650 has the overflow cup pointing up. It sounds like yours was pointed down due to water getting into the carb.

The carb intake on the 3650 is about 7 inches above the ground. If you tilt the head up (as in trying to remove the top portion of a drift) the carb intake could be a few inches off the ground and with the cup facing down may be sucking in snow.

The other thing I would try is when you start to experience the problem loosen the gas cap. If the vent is plugged you will not get gas to the carb either. Loosening the cap breaks the vacuum and would allow fuel to go to the carb.

Thanks for the tips! I'll try that tommorrow when I finish my neighbours drive. You could be right about snow getting in the cup as the drifts were as high as the machine in some parts. I noticed the problem begins to develop if I do a deep pass with the carb side of the machine in on the side of the snow drift.

I have a few commerical user friend with the 3650 that has had similar freeze up problems -so much so that he is selling his 3650. It gets pretty cold here -20-40C range so it is harsh on the machines.

Thanks again

Where is here?? And welcome to the forum, please stick around!

Anyway to divert some engine heat the the carb area with a make-shift setup ?

Dave...

The magical -40C where -40C equals -40F.

By anyone's measure that is pretty cold. I wouldn't want to be running for more than 20 minutes in that temperature.

I have never had the misfortune to run any of my machines colder than 0F (-18C). At your temperature maybe freezing condensate from the engine exhaust is also a problem but you are in territory where I am just guessing. Since you are talking centigrade maybe some of our Canadian members can be of some help.

Just spoke with my friend who has a snow removal service. He told me Toro is aware of the freeze up problem and has come out with a kit that takes warm air from the exhuast and circulates it to the carb. He still has his 3650 and this kit but says the problem still occurs. He recommended using a spoonfull or two of 99% alcohol in every tank to prevent the problem.

Another big storm suppose to hit us this afternoon so I gotta get this baby goin.