I picked up my first snow thrower last year, it's a toro 1028 LXE with a 10 hp Tecumseh Engine. It did not get used much last year but came out pretty handy this winter. However, I can never get the damn thing to start without the electric starter. I have tried many tips and tricks but still can't figure out why. I put in fresh fuel (with stabilizer) and changed oil and spark plug but it makes no difference. Local Toro dealer tells me this is now a common complaint for the last few year due to Ethenol content changes in Fuel and using higher octane fuel may help. Is this BS?

On another topic should I leave the fuel in or drain it out before storing it away?

Thanks!

 

drain the tank.
start the blower and let it run until it stalls out.
this will clear out the bowls and prevent varnish from building up.

electric starters are awesome baby... I always start mine this way.

can you restart it with the pull handle after it has been running?

 

Hmm, must be a fussy one. I never drain my tank or even shut off the fuel for that matter even over the summer. I use sta-bil in each tank and the thing starts up on the first pull every time. I still use the electric starter for my wife to get it started every now and then.


Maybe the plug is fouled.

 

Oh, and whatever you do, don't put it away yet!! The day you put that thing away, we will get a foot of snow

 

carburetors do not like ethanol in the fuel. Trust me I learned this the hard
way one year when I tried to start my motorcycle for the first time in the
spring and fuel pissed out the overflow big time.

Even though I used the stabilizer and ran the motorcycle until it died, there
is still fuel in the bowls that causes the needles to fuse to the walls of the
carburetor. So they can't control the fuel flow, hence the overflow.

I had to have my carburetor rebuilt to fix the problem and now I run the bike
until it dies and also drain the bowl completely before winter storage.

 

I don't drain the fuel from the tank, I just turn off the fuel valve and run
it until it dies. Then I fill the tank to the top, this keeps the tank from rusting
on the inside.

 

Thanks, I will try that.

 

I have changed the plug twice, no difference.

What year snow blowers you guys have? It seems there was a major emissions regulations change (stricter now) a few years ago that also could be an issue specially when mixed with the Ethenol level in fuel.

Yes, electric start is cool, except that I scares me a bit when it's wet outside (which it is when you really need to use it). I don't have a garage that I can start the snowblower in where it's dry.

 

Mine is probably about 5 years old, Briggs and Stratton engine.

 

Ethanol is an issue, I noticed this on my generator last month. Im running my sno-blo and generators out of gas and than draining the bowls for storage. The gas tanks on both are plastic so no rust issues there.