Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Snowblower won't idle

[BackwoodsMan]

My Yamaha YS828 snow blower has a fuel problem and I am not sure what to look for next. It will not hold idle unless I keep the choke at half set. It does run at full throttle with no choke. On the first start of this season it was running rough at all throttle and choke settings. I thought it might be old gas or water in the gas so I drained and refilled the tank. It did improve the full throttle running, but when I drop to idle it will stall unless I half set the choke. Any ideas or suggestions on what to try next would be appreciated.

 

[murphy1244]

My Yamaha YS828 snow blower has a fuel problem and I am not sure what to look for next. It will not hold idle unless I keep the choke at half set. It does run at full throttle with no choke. On the first start of this season it was running rough at all throttle and choke settings. I thought it might be old gas or water in the gas so I drained and refilled the tank. It did improve the full throttle running, but when I drop to idle it will stall unless I half set the choke. Any ideas or suggestions on what to try next would be appreciated.

Run some Sea Foam thru it.

 

[32 chev]

X2 on the Sea Foam

 

[murphy1244]

X2 on the Sea Foam

Great minds think alike.

 

[leonz]

YES the sea foam is a must!!!


Have you checked the air filter or changed it?



Does your blue beast have the tracks?????????????????????????

 

[BackwoodsMan]

That's 3 recommendations for sea foam. I will certainly try that next. Until this post I never heard of sea foam. There is no air filter, just a protective cover over the carb intake. It does have tracks and can really move the snow. The only disappointment is the old school transmission with rotating disk. In hindsight I should have chosen the Honda with hydrostatic transmission.

 

[duroc]

That's 3 recommendations for sea foam.

The problem is a plugged or dirty idle/slow-speed passage of the carb. Sea Foam is good stuff and should clean it out for you, but don't expect it to work "on the spot". You may need to run through a tank or 2 of fuel (depending on tank size) before you see any results. If SF doesn't work, you'll probably need to remove the carb and clean it.

 

[vanb]

I had that same problem for the last couple of years (I don't use much) if it's like most under the carb there is a bolt under the float bowl. Unscrew it ( turn off fuel) there are 2 holes in it. The super small hole at the top of the bolt in the threads is what makes it idle. Spray it out with carb cleaner and use some soft copper wire to make sure it's opened. Also, stop using fuel with ethanol, use non oxygenated fuel in your small engines. You can search YouTube and there are videos on this. My snowblower idles great now, super simple fix, oh yeah use Sea Foam too.

 

[BackwoodsMan]

I added Sea Foam to the tank and ran that through. No noticeable improvement so I removed the carb and cleaned with Gumout. I removed all needle valves and sprayed all openings and made sure they were clear. Still no improvement. I have to spray starter fluid to get it started and it will run OK at half choke and it lunges with the choke off. It is still fuel starved and I am not sure why. Maybe it is leaking air at the engine to carb gasket. Any other thoughts?

 

[grsthegreat]

i had that same issue with my old push snowblower 2 seasons ago. I tried everything including 2 cans of sea foam. I finally pulled the carb and found that the hoses were rotting away and all the ports were clogged. I tried cleaning it and even bought a carb rebuild kit.

After all was said and done, it was no better. I ended up buying a new carb off of ebay for about $40, and now it runs like new.
For the past 2 years ive only run NON ethanol unleaded in my 2 stroke motors anymore, and i have had no further issues.


As a side note...unrelated to OP problems, i had a neighbor bring by his torpedo heater (125,000 btu kerosene heater) cause it wasnt working. We tore into it and found that the fuel uptake hose had turned into a pile of crap. The kerosene had eaten the hose. I wonder if there putting ethanol in kerosene now. His 2nd unit was working, but we opened it anyways, and the hose fell apart in my hands. This is like an explosive waiting to blow up. I really cant believe that our great govt is allowing ethanol in the fuel supply.

 

[tcartwri]

You have to pull the jet and rod it out with something soft. Stranded copper wire works well. There will be hard deposits from the ethanol that 'tune-up-in-a-can' will not touch. Should run fine after that, although new deposits will re-form quicker now.

 

[BackwoodsMan]

I am making progress. There was a jet I missed in my first cleaning. This Yamaha carb is different than the ones I saw on the YouTube videos. It has a 2 inch long tube that threads in the bottom of the carb and is not part of the bowl bolt. After I cleaned that long tube, it idled just fine. I included a picture in case someone else has this model.



I still have a problem with lunging at full throttle. It seems like the engine stumbles and the governor opens the throttle. If I go to half choke it runs OK. I cleaned the main (center jet) so I am not sure it is a fuel issue. I will clean the plug next.

 

[duroc]

I am making progress. There was a jet I missed in my first cleaning. This Yamaha carb is different than the ones I saw on the YouTube videos. It has a 2 inch long tube that threads in the bottom of the carb and is not part of the bowl bolt. After I cleaned that long tube, it idled just fine. I included a picture in case someone else has this model.

View attachment 351825

I still have a problem with lunging at full throttle. It seems like the engine stumbles and the governor opens the throttle. If I go to half choke it runs OK. I cleaned the main (center jet) so I am not sure it is a fuel issue. I will clean the plug next.

Sounds to me like there is still a blockage somewhere. When it runs okay with partial choke, that pretty much tells me it's starving for fuel. I'd remove the carb and take it all apart and clean it again, then blow out all the passages and the parts. Spraying the carb with carb cleaner loosens the dirt, but you need to move it out of there with air pressure, otherwise it will just find another place to rest. Remove the float and needle valve (no air pressure on the float tho) spray the float with cleaner (unless it's cork, which it does not appear to be) and just let it air-dry on it's own, wipe down the needle valve with a clean shop towel, then blow it off using your breath. You could use air pressure, but chances are it's gonna blow out of your hand and you'll never find it. There's no reason to remove the needle's "seat", but air blow that too. Be very careful not to disturb the float setting-tab or you'll need to re-adjust that height.

In your picture, it's hard to tell if the carb body (inboard of the "O" ring) is dirty or it's just stained. If its dirt, get rid of it - it will eventually cause problems. That tower looking thingy (technical term) between the float looks dirty too, clean that as well. Take your time, you're getting there.

 

[The Fred]

I can't see a breakdown of your carb online but I can tell you that Japanese carbs have some very tiny orifices for the low speed circuit. Like everyone says you DO have a partially plugged jet somewhere. Look CLOSELY inside the carb body with the butterfly shut. Now look for transitional ports that the butterfly just passes by when you just crack the throttle past idle. Follow the holes(s) down to the respective jet. Once you find this tiny orifice you will find a way to clean it and trouble be gone.

Beware some of these Japanese carbs use plastic jets and damage very easily. I can tell by your nice photo that there has definitely been water in the carb fuel bowl and corrosion has set in somewhere. You can pick up a set of 300 magnifying (reading) glasses at Walmart for a few bucks and with a bright flashlight you can really see these tiny jets and the plugging.

Good luck you'll find the problem.

Side note: most newer small engine carburetors, weed whackers, chainsaws have the tiniest jets for emissions that it is cheaper to replace then to try to fix. These carbs are designed to be thrown away. Planned obsolescence I think it is called. It has little to do with ethanol but with the manufacturer wanting you to buy new equipment much sooner than you are used to. Same with wash machines and dryers.

Fred

 

[BackwoodsMan]

I am still working on the lunging problem at full throttle. I did a thorough cleaning of the carb and made sure every port was open. I pushed a small drill through the main jet to insure it is fully open. The engine idles perfectly, but at full throttle it will lung every 5 seconds. I can see the governor pull the throttle wide open and a big spray of fuel shoots up into the throat. Some droplets even come out the air intake side. The engine then runs OK for 5 seconds and the cycle is repeated. if I move the choke to half set, the lunging stops. I am about ready to replace the carb, but I can't imagine what would be different with a new carb.