If your snowblower isn’t starting even after hours of kicking and cranking the machine, it can be because of stale gas in the fuel tank.
Starting a snowblower with old gas can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. If you can maintain the engine in good shape, your snowblower will run quite fine, even with stale gas.
So, in today’s article, I’ll discuss how to start a snowblower with old gas.
While you can start a snowblower with old gas, a bumpy start or no start is a more common problem. Modern gas having ethanol goes stale quite easily because the ethanol expires within a month, especially in an open fuel system.
In an open fuel system the gas is in direct contact with the outer atmosphere. As a result, the ethanol in any modern gas attracts moisture, corroding the gas quickly.
Gas evaporates easily in an open fuel system, and the leftover chemicals clog up the carburetor, ruining the engine performance of the snowblower.
As I said earlier, stale gas can block your carburetor, preventing the snowblower engine from starting. Under such circumstances, your best course of action is to add a fuel stabilizer to liquefy the gas residue and remove the clog.
Read the instructions mentioned on the fuel stabilizer container carefully and then add it accordingly to the fuel tank. Once you’ve added the fuel stabilizer, try starting the snowblower. Keep cranking the machine by repeatedly pulling its starter cord so that the stabilizer and fresh fuel work through the carburetor.
If the machine doesn’t start immediately, wait for one or two hours to let the fuel stabilizer act on the gas clog to dissolve it, and then try again.
Gas engines often have a buoy start during cold weather, so a little fuel boost can go a long way to start the machine.
Press the flexible silicone or rubber primer near the snowblower’s carburetor three or five times for faster ignition. Now, start the engine immediately after priming to get your snowblower running, but it might take a few attempts to get the job done.
Whether your snowblower has fresh or old fuel in the tank, you need some spark to ignite it, and that’s why maintaining the spark plugs is essential. If you can’t start the machine, cleaning or replacing the spark plugs can solve the problem.
You can remove the plugs using a socket wrench to clean the carbon deposits on the electrodes. It’s best to apply some carburetor cleaner or use a wire brush for this purpose before reinserting the plugs to start the snowblower.
If the machine won’t start even after cleaning the plugs, it’s time to replace them entirely. Also, replace the plugs with new ones if they have any cracks.
The fuel line connects the gas tank to the carburetor and must be pliable for the snowblower to run smoothly. But over time, the fuel line becomes hard and brittle and can cause fuel leaks to prevent the snowblower from starting.
If you find that the fuel line has cracked or hardened up, it’s time to replace it to get your snowblower up and running again, even with old gas.
If dissolving the carburetor clog with a fuel stabilizer isn’t able to start your snowblower, you need to clean the carburetor more thoroughly. Remove the machine’s air filter and the filter cover to access the carburetor for cleaning it.
Use a carb cleaner to spray the gunk-dissolving solvent directly in the carburetor and the air-intake valve. Read the instructions on the can of the carb cleaner carefully before spraying it. Then, replace the air filter cover and the air cover to start your snowblower.
And thus, I come to the end of my guide to start a snowblower with old gas. After going through my article, I hope you’ll have better luck in starting your snowblower, even if it has some residual stale gas left in the fuel tank.
You can apply any of the methods mentioned above to get the machine running again in no time. However, if none of these methods are working, hire a technician who can fix your snowblower in a jiffy.
And with that, I’ll sign off. Until next time!
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