Abby’s Guide > Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) > Discussions > Diagnosing a (new to me) 2-stoke engine for trouble
Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions |
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Underdog
Joined: Oct 18, 2008
Points: 332
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Diagnosing a (new to me) 2-stoke engine for trouble
Original Message Mar 16, 2010 9:22 am |
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How do you diagnose a 2-stroke to find out if someone ran straight gas through the engine and wrecked it? I found a Toro snow commander snow thrower (see photo). I've never used a toro single stage so I thought I would snatch it up. The previous owner said that it did not run. Apparently it ran last year but not very well. Looks like it sat out in the rain most of its life. That's all I have to go on. At 24" the blower is wide for a single stage and very heavy (over 100 lbs). The 7hp engine appears to be the same InTek 2-stroke as the Toro 3650 and 2450. I noticed that it does have an electric start feature. Now that the blower is sitting in the garage, I realize how large it is. Think "single stage monster." A very odd beast, a mass of red plastic. Toro only sold these (model 38602) blowers for a few years (2001, 2002, 2003, ?) with a list price of $960 US. There was a Toro recall in 2006 for 2001 and 2002 models. This one is a 2003 model. I don't think they were very big sellers (expensive, hard to handle, too many parts). I don't have any experience with 2-strokes so this is a new adventure for me. Is there an easy way to determine if someone ran the engine with regular unmixed gas and ruined the engine? Would I notice anything when pulling the starter cord? I thought I try to rule that out first if there was an easy way to do so.
This message was modified Mar 16, 2010 by Underdog
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Underdog
Joined: Oct 18, 2008
Points: 332
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Re: Diagnosing a (new to me) 2-stoke engine for trouble
Reply #4 Mar 16, 2010 9:30 pm |
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It was easy to pull the plastic carb off (801255 or 1009576?). As I mentioned earlier it seems to have water inside. No noticable damage caused by water freezing in the carb. I pulled the two jets/nozzles out and cleaned them with a bread twisty and then flushed them with carb cleaner and blew compressed air through the orifices. I cannot decide it the plastic tower on the side of the carb has a plastic top than can be pryed out or if the top is permanently sealed to the carb. Any guidance on this it would be greatly appreciated.
This message was modified Mar 17, 2010 by Underdog
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Underdog
Joined: Oct 18, 2008
Points: 332
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Re: Diagnosing a (new to me) 2-stoke engine for trouble
Reply #7 Mar 17, 2010 9:10 am |
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Good to know. I'll leave that plug in place. I found that extra jet that you mentioned under the sticker. Everything seems pretty clean now. In searching the Toro manuals online I found a guide with some good information. One thing that is not clear to me is the difference between the plastic carb on the 3650/2450 and the Snow Commander. In reading about the R-tek engine it sounded like the higher output R-Tek engine on the Snow Commander (the one with the slotted pistons) might use larger jets. I am trying to cross reference the part number to see if this is true. But I'm not there yet. The previous owner was not happy with the snowblower and did not use it very much. I'm going to try to get it running and see whats what, but often poor performance can be attributed to a faulty carb. There are replacement plastic carbs for these Toros on ebay ($50) but they don't differentiate between the three blowers. There's just one carb for all three units (3650/2450 and the Snow Commander), so that leads me to believe the jets are all the same. Really not sure. I plan on picking up a replacement fuel filter and spark plug today, and hopefully try starting it on the weekend.
This message was modified Mar 17, 2010 by Underdog
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