Thought everyone should be made aware of this potentially dangerous situation involving the fuel line on the Ariens 926LE with the Tecumseh engine for 2005. Overall, the fuel line keeps slipping off the nipple from the gas tank resulting in the drainage of fuel from the gas tank. I do not pretend to be an engineer, but upon my inspection of the nipple from the gas tank concludes this was a poorly engineered design as there is no place for the clamp to securely clamp onto.
History: Purchased 926LE at HD on 11/22/05 in Rockland, MA. (South Shore of Boston) Filled with Gas and Stablizer in mid December and ran for 15 minutes. Then stored in my garage till first snowstorm (still waiting). Morning after Patriots/Jaguars playoff game, went to garage and had gas all over the garage floor. Upon inspection, noticed that the fuel line that connects over the nipple from the gas tank came off. I slipped it back over it and then watched to my amazement as it slip down again and came off. I figured it must be a bad clamp, so after visiting my local hardware store, I reinstalled using a screwdriver clamp. Again, the fuel line slipped off the end. Upon further inspection of the nipple, it became apparent that no where on the nipple was there a place for the clamp to tighten to and with the nipple in the shape of a cone, forced the clamp downward.
Ariens / Tecumseh Service
I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the gas and vapors from my garage. The next morning, I first called Ariens and to my amazement, they were aware of my situation and advised me to call Tecumseh. The customer service individual advised that they were aware of this problem in late August but it was too late in the production cycle to fix the problem. I then called Tecumesh and the customer service rep (Jim) cut me off as I was explaining my issue, and advised that they too were aware of this issue, and that I should take the machine to my local authorized dealer for repair. Jim stated that the dealer would attempt to file or "rough up" the nipple with the goal of affording the clamp something to clamp onto. He stated that they issued a repair bulletin in Late November to all dealers about this problem. I then called my local authorized Ariens dealer who also quickly advised me that they were aware of this issue, and that I could bring it in and they would fix the problem with one day turnaround time. I dropped if off the following Saturday and picked it up on January 16th.
Home Depot Service
After dropping off the machine to be repaired, having the weekend to think about it, I decided that this so called fix, was in no way a permanent fix, and the potential risk for further gas spills still existed. SoI decided to go to HD and discuss with them and request a full refund. They too advised that they were aware of this problem and after discussing with them for about 30 minutes, instead of returning the machine, HD agreed to have one of the service dealers come to my house and replace the entire gas tank with a new one that did not have the problem. You would think this would give me "piece of mind".
They came last Friday afternoon and the HD outsourced service technician replaced the "problem" gas tank with a new one. Yesterday afternoon, in preparation of our potential nor'easter this week, I started filling the gas tank and guess what, gas started coming out onto the floor. Upon inspection, I noticed that the "fuel line" had once again slipped off the nipple, to the new gas tank!!!!!!! Remaining calm, I then called the service manager at HD and this time told him that I would be bringing the machine back to HD this week for a full refund as my patience had run out...
He was very understanding and gave me no problems with my decision to return it. Of course, he advised that they were now selling the snowblowers at 1/3 off.
The question I now have to everyone, is after I return the machine for a full refund, what should I do.
Option 1: Buy the Ariens 11528LE with the Tecumseh OHV valve engine (upon inspection different fuel line set up) at 43% off.
Option 2: Buy the Ariens 926LE with the new Briggs & Stratton OHV engine (only dealers are offering this, not HD) at full retail price. They will not bargain during the winter.
Option 3: Wait it out and attempt to find a deal with a local dealer this spring and summer......
I truly appreciate everyone's valued opinions and look forward to checking back with you.
