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

I purchased a 24" Arien Deluxe Platinum snowblower in October.  We just recently had our first snowfall.  The machine started up great but when I went to shut it down, 2 things happened:
1. The engine began to backfire.  A loud bang occurred and a flame came out of the exhaust.
2. When I tried to restart the warm engine, it would not start.  I had to re-open the choke, prime the unit, and then pull about 4-5 times before it started.  In addition, a thick cloud of white smoke came out of the exhaust then.

I emailed Ariens about the problem.  They told me to let the unit idle at low speed before shutting it down.  I did that but the same problem occurred.  So, they told me to take it to the dealer, which I'm going to do this week.  I did add some fuel stabilizer into the fuel tank.  Would that be causing the backfiring?

Figuring that I paid $1500 Canadian + 13% tax on the unit, I'm kinda of disappointed to see this happen.

Any ideas as to what is happening?

the dealer told you correctly. let the machine idle for a minute or two before shutting it off.the backfire is because the valves are hot and the cylinder is still pulling fuel from the intake during shutdown and the exhaust valve is hot enough to fire the fuel.i have a 23 yr old ariens and it will do as you described if i just shut it off after a good workout without letting it cool down.if the dealer is close yeah maybe i would ask him about what happened but i certainly wouldn't make a special trip too far with it.these are not very sophisticated machines and are not dialed in to the minute degree.i would use seafoam as a fuel stabilizer instead of stable on a regular basis,it will keep the combustion components as well as the carburator clean and functioning properly .just add the correct amount to the fuel can everytime you fill it up.the cost per season will far outway the aggrevation years down the road.the above is how i know!23 yrs later.

mkd55 wrote:
mkd55

Thanks for the feedback. 

I followed the instructions from Ariens.  I let the engine idle a low speed for a 3-4 minutes but the backfiring still happened.  Previous to this, I had a 2005 Compact Ariens with a 205 cc Briggs Snow Series engine on it and it never backfired at all.  I traded that model in for this new one. 

This might seem stupid, but do you have the choke all the way open, during normal running and before shutdown?

Just a thought.

I've seen mine back fire Just once. Although, it seemed like a good second after the engine had stopped. I might be wrong but mine seemed as though it just ignited unburned fuel that had accumulated in the exhaust and not in the cylinder.