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

I struggled to get my Ariens 8524 through the 10" of snow on my driveway yesterday here in south Jersey.  The engine would start right up either with the electric start or pull start on full throttle and full choke.  But if I tried to take it off choke at all it would stall.  This was after letting it warm up a little too.  Initially it was very hard to start and keep running.  This is a 1 year old snowblower that I used 3 times last year and this is my first time this year.  I kept stabilized fuel in the machine and had test fired it back in Novemeber and the snowblower started fine and I was able to get it to run off choke then.  I was only able to run the blower on full choke and only short distances before it would repeatedly stall out.  I drained the gas and put in fresh gas.  No improvement.  I am very frustrated and aggrevated over this Ariens.  Now I bought this machine last year new and had a belt problem that required dealer repair.  Then the blow by problem with the chute and baffle kit!  Now I have this engine stalling problem.  This Ariens has been the worst piece of power equipment I have ever owned!  Any other Ariens owners with similar problems?

***I just got my snowblower back from the shop.  They said the problem was a "sunken float" in the carburetor, and they replaced the float under warranty.  So it's repaired,  for now.  I just finished reading the 37 replies to my post and I am now wondering who to blame?  Ariens, Tecumseh, or the carburetor float manufacturer??  The Ariens website says that they use Tecumseh Snow King engines built to Ariens specifications.  So does Ariens specify the carburetor float?  Who knows.  What I do know is that I have a 1 year old snowblower (used 4 times) that's been in the shop twice in a year for repairs.  NOT a very good track record.  My snowblower for me is not a toy.  I need it to clear my driveway to get to work.  So far this Ariens has not performed to my expectations and I regret my purchase.  If I could get my money back I'd sell this Ariens in a second and buy another manufacturers machine.  Anyway, that's the update.  Looking forward to warmer weather.

not wanting to add any aggravation , but why would i , as a consumer , blame ariens for a tecumseh problem ? that makes no sense to me .  ariens cant control every engine and its running condition and the people that do the maintenience. if there is a problem with the engine you need tecumseh parts , available anywhere. put the blame where you may , to each his own , but i cant and wont blame ariens for a tecumseh problem .....ever..........the fault lies with the engine not the chassis....

just my 2 cents,

bill

skyking3 wrote:
Bill-
   i've been thinking the same thing as i've been reading this.  It just seems simple to me.  Sure ariens can and will act as an agent on behalf of me(which I would expect) dealing with tecumseh on an engine, but that's about all i would extect, seems straightforward enough to me.

Nope, didn't work snowremover, you came and tried put the blame on Ariens for this problem and say they should be blamed for everything that happens with an engine. That's a fact.

Then you say you mean the consumer has the right to blame them and you didn't ever mean that Ariens should be blamed for this happening. Yea right.

But when quoted by your own words you say you do mean what your said you said, I have Visions of John Kerry when I listen to you on this thread.

You came into this forum bashing Ariens, then come back and say that the only reason you did so was to get us to sell you against buying a Craftsman. Hahaha and I am Rumplestiltskin too.

You cant hide your illregard for Ariens on this forum, you can't cover it up, it's too appearant, a blind man can see it.

I suggest that before you go making anymore jabs that you consider thinking before acting.

I'm done with you on this thread. You can come back and say whatever you like but,  we both know your meaning and intent regardless of what else you may say.

 

First  off, its Dan Ariens, not Paul.  Paul is one of Dan's right hand guys that posts here out of the goodness of his heart(As has Dan).  Second, I don't believe Dan Ariens would accept ANY liability for the engines or failures thereof on the machines, but he WOULD(in the interest of standing behind his prodcut) accept the responsibility of helping to get the problem solved at no cost to the consumer.  The warranties for the blower and engine ARE separate, and they ARE written that way, for a reason.  I'll go back to your car analogy, if a car company puts brand x tire on a car, the tire is warranted by the maker of the tire, not the car company.  I have with every new car purchase always gotton a separate warranty agreement for the tires.  Sure the dealer will handle it(in the interest of customer service), but in the end the tire company covers the bill for any problems the tires have.  That's what "OEM-ing" something means.  We see it all the time here.  We'll buy a production system solution from a company that uses dell pc's for PLC's(process logic controllers) but if one of pc's fails, the seller deals with dell on behalf of us(or we just do it)  if one of pc's fails, we don't hold the original company accountable for the failure, just to help us get it fixed.

SnowRemover wrote:
Right and in the 1400's everyone said the world was flat, too- so that must make it correct, right?  What i think we are seeing with the ariens "issues" to which you and others refer, is that ariens sells alot more machines because of the fact that places like HD are carrying them.  So if you sell more, stands to reason the number of machines you produce with problems will increase.  BUT, there is no hard data(it's all this pseudo-empirical type) that ariens machines have worse reliability/quality than any other.  I think if you compared the percentage of ariens machines that have probs to the percentage of other brands, you would prob see that ariens isn't that much worse than the others if at all, but that's just a feeling i have.  All machines have problems- hondas tend to have cranky carbs, toro issued a recall on thier composite materials, ariens has issued the R3 upgrade for the drives.  They all have problems; i think we are just seeing more "ariens gripes" because quite simply there are more ariens machines out there.  Now ariens is a growing company, and i'm sure they are constantly tweaking thier buis/manufacturing processes to handle the growth they are seeing(you don't contract with HD and not have to change how you do buis) and we are at the consumer end going to see burps here and there.  The real question is how does ariens handle it?  How do they support the people with the problems?  From my end- pretty damn well

drinkingbird wrote:
You are probably correct, drinkingbird.
Due too the nature of the fiber...it can find its way into the tiniest of crevices or openings.
Fun fact: Did you know that George Bush has a vest made of the stuff? It's true...I swear too it!

buttlint wrote: LOL 

Here is my two cents:

Ariens should be responsible if the engine they chose has a major defect or design flaw, since they are the ones that picked/tested/certified it.

Ariens should also act as a contact point for engine problems, to answer questions or find out info, or even if it is just to forward the person to the correct company.  To use the previous analogy, if you call Ford for an issue with your engine (which makes perfect sense) they would consult with their engine group.

I don't think people should "blame" Ariens for quality issues with the engine, however since it is part of their unit, and they are the customer facing brand, they should expect for engine problems to be considered "snowblower problems" by the average consumer.  If there were major or widespread issues with the engine, or if the engine was installed improperly or not adjusted/inspected properly, then in this case I don't feel it would be unreasonable to consider Ariens as having dropped the ball.  That is not the case here, its a common problem that can happen to any engine on any device, and was not present when new.

Plus, the engine (if I'm not mistaken) is covered under the Ariens warranty, therefore it sort of becomes their problem to deal with any issues that arise anyway, though if its just a fluke then like I said, I wouldn't say to "blame" them, just appreciate the fact that they will fix it for you under warranty.

Like I said, just my opinions.

-Dave

The following items are not covered by this warranty:

• Engines and engine accessories are covered only by the warranty made by the engine manufacturer, and are not covered by this warranty.
• Parts that are not genuine Ariens® service parts are not covered by this warranty.
• Shoes, scraper blades, shear bolts, headlights, light bulbs, are not covered by this warranty.
• Any defect which is the result of misuse, alteration, improper assembly, improper adjustment, neglect, or accident, is not covered by this warranty.
• Products which were not purchased in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada are not covered by this warranty. In all other countries, contact place of purchase.

Source: From there website. http://www.ariens.com/customer_service/snow_warranty_info/

Ariens does see to it that you get an extra year on the standard Tecumseh two year consumer warranty.

AJace wrote:

The reason I said that was because the engine warranty comes from Tecusmeh, not Ariens.  Like many have pointed out in a later time.  It is separate.  I believe that Toro includes the engine in their warranty.  It depends on the situation, who should take the blame.  In this case, it seems that Tecumseh should take the blame.  If a chute crank assembly falls apart then Ariens should be at blame.  The the actual rod rusts, Ariens should still be at blame.