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

Hello all, I’m new to this forum after discovering it a few days ago and going through all the great info here.
 
I recently acquired an old Ariens 924038 (serial 003312) with a 7HP Tecumseh (H70-130210D serial 81670) engine from a friend.  Cosmetically it is in great shape for its age but mechanically it is a different story.  I know that the last time it ran was about 6 years ago and it ran rough initially but as it warmed up it would start to backfire and stall.  From reading through this forum it seems like these old Ariens snow blowers are good solid machines well worth a few bucks in parts and a little bit of time.  So I’ve decided to get it going again and put it to good use this winter.
 
Based on what I’ve learned from this forum and general web surfing I know I need to rebuild the carburetor, replace the belts, change the oil, and replace the spark plug at a minimum.  I’ve also determined that the parts I need are a carburetor rebuild kit (PN 31840), new belts (PN’s 072108 & 072098), oil (5W-30), and spark plug (this one confuses me as I’ve found conflicting info but I believe it should be a Champion RJ17LM).
 
My questions for the experienced folks here are:  What else should I do?  Are there problem spots on these machines or anything else that should be changed, lubricated, or adjusted in addition to what I’ve listed above?  Also, I’ve noticed there is a pretty big price difference between the Ariens OEM belts and the aftermarket offerings – does anyone have any experience running aftermarket belts in one of these machines and can recommend a brand?
 
Thanks in advance,
Ted

Well, 

      Aftermarket is great..

First things first..... Ariens has never made a single belt in its life,  they contract out one of many belt makers and put their part # on it ,  (gates, goodyear... blah blah )

Gates is good ,  I have used them for years..   There are lots of good spark plugs ... I like to stay away from champ plugs... I use to sell a lot of champ plugs,  There were real cheap to get, but I would find quite a few dead out of the box...  (maybe 4 out of 100) ...   I like ND and NGK   (W20M-U  or BM6A)..

Good Luck,

Friiy

you might want to look at the shaft the impeller rides on. this shaft slides foreward and back when you engage and dissengage the drive handle.if this shaft is not lubed well enough it could either not want to engage or when you disengage the drive it will still want to drive which could be dangerous.take the plastic cover off of the drive exposing the pulleys and engage the drive handle and look for where it's suppose to slide back and forth.i simply squirted motor oil onto where the collar and shaft are till it was working freely.mine would not disengage because in 18 yrs it was never lubricated.you want to make sure the gearbox that spins the snow auger has greese in it also.ariens has grease for this but i used combine head grease from john deere. it is a clay base grease that is suppose to stick to gears.chainsaw bar roller tip grease is an 00 type grease used for this also.

check the rubber drive disc also.  if it looks chunked or glazed replace this.  only cause slippage in future...