MacLorry27

I’ve talked to several people who have snowthorwers with friction drive (most brands do) and many have drive problems. I have a JD 928E and it also has drive problems when I try to blow snow into the wind. I just ignore it and push a bit and as things heat up the drive works better and better. Short of sealing every seam with duct tape I don’t know what a person would do to fix the problem other than to not blow into the wind.

When you say the pull cord got stuck do you mean that it wouldn’t turn over the engine when you pulled it. If so, it’s a known problem and the solution is explained on page 20 of the operator’s manual under the heading FROZEN STARTER.

As for the problems with how the engine runs after you got it back from the JD dealer, it’s likely something didn’t get adjusted properly. To replace the flywheel likely involves messing with the governor linkage, which is easy to screw up. Likely you’ll have to convince the dealer that something’s actually wrong and then hope they can actually fix it.

If you bought if from Lowes within the last 30 days then check you receipt to see if it says you can return it within 30 days. If so, you should take it back for a full refund or at least a swap with another 928E.

Glad you found the problem and that it was something easily corrected. As for the lube in the auger gearbox, check it and if it’s ok or only a bit low, leave it until you find out what to use as borat advised.

However, you might find there’s very little lube in the gearbox and/or you might not be able to find out what lube was recommended. There is a solution.

Newer machines are going to liquid grease rather than gear oil. The difference between grease and oil is that grease also contains a thickener such as lithium compounds, molybdenum compounds, or PTFE’s (Teflon). All grease contains an oil base, so a good gear oil won’t damage seals that a low temperature liquid grease won’t damage. In a pinch you can use a synthetic 75w-90 gear oil. A synthetic gear oil will have excellent low temperature properties and higher shear strength that any conventional gear oil. Using it even if you don’t know if it’s the right lube is much better than having little or no lube in the gearbox, which is not uncommon on old machines. If you do find the gearbox is nearly dry and you add gear oil, the gearbox will likely leak oil for a while until the gaskets swell up. Just put something under the gearbox to keep it from messing your garage floor. Also, keep an eye on the level.

Is there a way to tell if the bolts are shear bolts or just regular bolts someone stuck in?

I went out and tried turning the impeller by hand on my 928 (with the ignition switch off) before suggesting timh310 try it. It turns, but not easily and I did worry about getting my hand stuck in there. Yes, maybe using a stick would be a better idea and you could come from the front, which gives a better view of the auger anyway.

According to the Briggs & Stratton web site, the Snow Max 16.5 and 15.5 torque engines are 342cc. The 14.5 and 13.5 torque engines are 305cc. My JD 928 uses the 305cc 13.5 lbs torque Snow series engine.