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

A winter weather advisory is posted for Chicago, and my new-last-year Craftsman single-stage won't start. I added gas stabilizer at the end of last season, and I've changed the spark plug. I have carb cleaner and starting fluid, but I'm unsure as to where to apply either.

Can either product be squirted into the spark plug chamber? The starting fluid instructions say to spray it into the air intake, but I'm not positive of its location, and I don't want to permanently muck something up.

Many forums suggest a carb problem, but I'm unsure as to how to remove it. Again, I don't want to make things any worse.

I'm mechanically inclined enough that I can follow instructions, but have never worked on a small engine before.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The machine is under warranty, but I'm told I need to bring it to the service center that is miles away, and I doubt it would be fixed while I wait.

Is there a chance your engine is flooding? Does the spark plug smell like gasoline. Suggest you pull the plug, take it into a different room to smell it. Might want to wash your hands if you had fuel on them. If the plug smells like fuel, you might have a flooding problem caused by the needle valve not completely closing. However, if that was the case, you'd have gasoline leaking out of the carb. Have you tried a spark plug replacement? It's very rare but the plug might be bad. I know you said you felt shocks from the spark plug lead but that will not confirm that the plug is good. Try a plug swap and let us know how it goes.

I have a new plug, changed a couple of days ago, when I was starting this diagnostic process. I don't think, when I pulled it last night, that it smelled of gasoline, but I'll double-check when I get home.

On the up-side, the projected foot of snow hasn't materialized, which gives me some time to sort this out, and I've been told by a Sears phone rep that it's still under warranty. I have to take it to them, but it's not too far away. Hope they aren't swamped with other work.

Does your blower have a plastic key that needs to be inserted before you can start it?  I removed my key before last weekend when we took a overnight trip, and forgot to put it back in before cranking up my machine today.  After a frustrating few minutes of trying to start it, i realized my mistake and grabbed the key.  Stupid of me, I admit.

I guess if you felt small electric shocks while cranking the engine, your blower is at least getting power to the plug.  But I thought I'd mention the key, since that simple oversight will prevent a machine from starting.

Heh. I'll admit to making that mistake at least once, but this time the key is securely pushed in to the slot. Even tried the alternate key, just to be sure. Thanks, though.