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Corner Brook · Jan 16, 2008, 10:25 AM

I have a 7 year old craftsman snowblower that was working fine until today. It was seeming to lack power. Does anyone know what I should look for to fix the problem before it get worse?

Questionshelp · Jan 16, 2008, 10:38 AM

Need more information on your problem. Is it hard to start? Did you check the oil? Did you check the spark plug? Are you from Corner Brook NL?

Corner Brook · Jan 16, 2008, 11:42 AM

No it starts great all the time. The oil was changed 2 months ago and I check it every time before I start it. And the spark plug is new. It seem that it's not giving the same power when I put it in high idol. Any suggestions? And why yes I am from the rock.

ballengerb1 · Jan 16, 2008, 12:11 PM

You have described a 4 cycle engine so far. I think it is worth your time to drop the carborator bowl, rinse it out and inspect the needle valve and seat operation. When you lift the float it should close the needle valve 100%, no dripping at all. When you lower the float the fuel will start to spill, this may flush out any decris in the carb. If your blower has an in-line fuel filter you might swap that out with new. Last but not least check the linkage between your throttle control and the carb, insue that when you move the knob to high speed the carb end actually responds.

Questionshelp · Jan 17, 2008, 05:05 AM

Corner Brook.
This is what you should do. If you have a Craftsman Snowblower and this is happing to you off the cuff. Your idling screw has backed off a bit. Start your snow blower and when you have it on high rev with out the chock on then turn the idling screw until you get to the same rev you had before. Cation- Do not go higher as it was before for it can damage your engine. If your from NL you must be snow blowing 1 feet to 2 feet a day. This is common with craftsman snow blowers. Tell me how you make out.

Corner Brook · Jan 17, 2008, 05:10 AM

ballengerb1 was wrong. The gas is clean and it had nothing to do with the carb. I will say that I did try the idling screw like Questionshelp suggested and this person was correct. Thank you for all your help.

Questionshelp · Jan 17, 2008, 05:38 AM

If you have anymore problems with your snow blower I can recommend calling John Kennedy in Corner Brook, He works for me. Thank you just say Jay told you to call him. Look out for the storm this weekend it calls for 25 to 40 cm of snow.

MOWERMAN2468 · Jan 17, 2008, 06:38 PM

I would suspect the carb may need cleaning.

Corner Brook · Jan 18, 2008, 06:50 AM

I got my son to take the snow blower to get the carb cleaned which cost me $68.00 plus 13% tax. Which I latter found out from the service department that the carb was cleaned and there was no need to clean it. Needless to say I wasted over $76. Why would you suspect the Carb MOWERMAN2468?

Questionshelp · Jan 18, 2008, 07:23 AM

I can see why people would suspect the carb needing cleaning. And thank you for the ratting you gave me. But even still this site is for people trying to help you out. You asked the questions and people try to pinpoint the problem and help you fix it. Please keep in mind that "ballengerb1" only gave you advise. "ballengerb1" never told you to pay to clean your carb. Sorry but for you paying money to have it cleaned was your own fault.

MOWERMAN2468 · Jan 19, 2008, 05:57 AM

Originally Posted by Corner Brook

I got my son to take the snow blower to get the carb cleaned which cost me $68.00 plus 13% tax. Which I latter found out from the service department that the carb was cleaned and there was no need to clean it. needless to say I wasted over $76. Why would you suspect the Carb MOWERMAN2468?

This may not be absolutely correct. The carb can have microscopic particles inside, which can lead to problems. These microscopic particles can not be seen by the naked eye, but can cause severe lack in performance. And $76. Bucks for a carb cleaning is a bit high. Cleaning of the carb is quite simple actually. And as for why I suspected the carb? Fuel is only recommended to be kept for 30 days by all of our engine manufacturer reps. Now, I didn't say it should only be kept for 30 days, I said all of our reps say that. But anyway, the fuel can become contaminated by various means will not being used for just a short time. Therefore, it doesn't take much to remove the float bowl of the carb and inspect the contents and this can lead you to whether you think it needs cleaning or not. And if you do a complete removal and teardown of the carb and clean it, you will have to readjust the carb and this would have taken care of the screw adjustment for you. And you do not need to set the rpms by "ear". You must use a tach adjustment tool to properly set the rpms to manufacturer specs. And yes I realize that engines have been set by "ear" for years, but this gives inaccurate results.

helpmefixit · Jan 29, 2008, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by Corner Brook

I have a 7 year old craftsman snowblower that was working fine until today. It was seeming to lack power. Does anyone know what I should look for to fix the problem before it get worse?

It could be as simple as needing gas flow adjustments. They do tend to vibrate out of adjustment sometimes. When adjusting them - gently screw them all the way in, then 1 turn out at a time until you get it running. Then go back and readjust the low idle. (When you found out from the service department that the carb was cleaned and there was no need to clean it, why did they do the work?? ) I WOULD NOT USE THERE SERVICE IN THE FUTURE! - Just some advice from someone who has made these kind of decisions in the past. I now tell the service dept what the symptoms are and let them trouble shoot it and fix it for me.