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

I have an Craftsman snowblower that will run for about 20 mins then shuts off, it will restart with the choke open all the way but then quickly dies like it's not getting gas.  It's seems to be a problem after the snowblower warms up.

  probably no fuel filter.   check the fuel petcock if ine is there.  these seem to get clogged over the years.  turn shut off   off the pull the line going to carb fron shut off. open shut off and see what the flow is.   also check the integrity of fuel line.  sometime the will collapse.  do they feel mushy if so replace.   3  does unit start up right away after killing??? does it need to sit for awhile??  next time it kills take a spare plug and put into plug boot and turns over, checking for spark.  the ignition coil maybe overheating and shorting out.  this is a fairly common issue.

Yes it will start right up after the engine dies but it will not stay running until it sits for a couple of hours. I will check the fuel line, maybe your right about something overheating.

I am a first time poster. I have been searching the web high and low for a solution as i have the same issue with with a 536-881550 Craftsman snowthrower. I have tried the spark plug, drained and replaced the gas with fresh gas, removed the carburator and cleaned it. None of these solutions fixed my problem. I live in Minnesota and we just got 17" of snow last weekend and i was not going to have my snowblower watch me shovel the last half of my driveway. So I checked it for spark after the first time it died and there was spark. losening the gas cap and even replacing the gas cap didn't help. I was more frustrated than ever! This is when I tore into it and did the above mentioned inspection/ cleaning. This brought me to the potential of overheating causing the issue. I fashioned a heat shield out of some left over heating duct that i had laying around and placed it between the exhaust mainfold/ muffler and the carburator. And this fixed the issue for me. It seems that the muffler being too close to the fuel line was causing vapor lock (heat changing the state of the fuel from liquid to a gas) .  The heat shield I made is bent over the top allowing it to be attached using the thumb screws for the outer shroud. It extends from the top mounting bracket down to almost making contact with the engine block. it runs from the gas tank with about a 1" 90 degree return bend on each side going toward the muffler side of the snow blower and away from the carb.

Snowblowers have no air filter, they injest lots of water (as in melted snow), and the carbs need to be overhauled, replaced, or Rebuilt every so often.  Have a shop replace the carb, and it'll run fine.  the dirt isn't coming in through the fuel, its coming through the open inlet that has no air filter to keep it out.  Do you run the gas out every time or just sjut off the machine ?  Gas left in the carb helps form shellac and also clogs up the works.  Just food for thought.  The devil in these things is always in these details.

New Yorker wrote:

"Snowblowers have no air filter, they injest lots of water (as in melted snow), and the carbs need to be overhauled, replaced, or Rebuilt every so often. "


Your above statement couldn't be further from the truth.

Don't want to be rude, but where do you get your information?   Snow thrower engines don't ingest lots of water unless submerged.  Otherwise, moisture intake is minimal, if at all.
How would a bit of moisture being drawn into a carburetor venturi possibly cause problems elsewhere in the carburetor's interior?  

A carburetor will require cleaning on occasion due to contaminated fuel or varnish build up but certainly not from passing a negligible amount of snow through it. 

Let's try to keep our information/guidance reasonably correct.  People looking for help need good info.

Clarles99 is probably long gone.  He last posted in 2007.

It looked like he had two problems.  A bad plug which would crap out after 20 minutes and restart ok (he had checked the cap vent) and a dirty carb from the mention of running with choke.