Snowblower Pulley Trouble

I have a Toro Power Snow Shovel and it was working fine today, until I hit a rough patch of icy snow and it stopped. This had happened two or three times before and I simply pulled the starter cord and it fired right back up. However, the last time it happened, the cord wouldn't budge. I tried the electric starter and the same thing happened - wouldn't turn over. I waited a couple of hours for it to cool off, and loosened the hood (Couldn't take it off without letting gas leak all over). Anyway the belt drive moves freeley and the blades turn, so I don't think anything is jammed. I looked at the flywheel and nothing seems amiss. Before I take it to a service center and pay $$ to fix it, any ideas? Can I take the flywheel cover off or will I get myself in trouble with springs that are hard to put back together?


Thanks

 

Unless something is destroyed in the starting mechanism you should be able to remove the flywheel cover without anything jumping out at you.

If you have access to the driven side of the crank I would see if you can move the crank, preferably in the reverse direction the engine normally runs.

Something may be jammed in it. I think I would give that a try before I took anything else apart.

Worse case scenario is the engine has seized. Hope not.

Hope this helps,

Bob