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.
