Murray snowblower running rough w/load/leaking fuel/too much oil?


  #1  
Old 12-04-10, 04:56 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Murray snowblower running rough w/load/leaking fuel/too much oil?

I have a Murray snowblower with a Briggs 205 CC Snow Series 800 4 cycle engine. It is about a year old and was used for less than one season. After last winter I changed the oil and ran out the old gas. I put in the recommended amount of oil (synthetic 5w30) and fresh gas this month. I went to use it for the first time this season today and had a few things pop up.

The snow blower runs really rough or bogged down with increased load. We had a really light snowfall with powdery snow measuring 1-4" in some places. It would bog down on anything slightly wet from melting and over about 2". This is a far cry from the giant drifts it powered through last year. It would bog down and sound the same when I would engage the auger as well, but only for a second and then it would sound/run fine again. It also didn't seem to have the throwing power it did last year.

I stopped and checked a few things. I should point out that before starting the blower I pushed the primer too many times (I've since read the manual and it said 2x) maybe 7-8 times. When I opened the fuel cap I saw a small amount of liquid leak out. It came from the engine cover kind of above the oil drain tube and opposite (if you drilled straight down towards the ground from) the primer button. There is nothing there just the cover, but it was at this corner that the liquid came. It smelled like gas. It immediately stopped and I havent seen more. Is something loose/leaking? Why did it leak when the gas cap was opened? It seems to me that the pressure of the gas cap is involved. I am hoping this is just that I pushed the primer too many times and had a fuel leak into that cover because of it. Any thoughts?

I also checked the oil level and it is really hard to read. The yellow dipstick looks wet all the time and with clean oil you can barely see it. It looked a little low so I added more. It looked like the oil was fully covering the dipstick to the full line, but there was oil along the edge of the dipstick quite a ways beyond the full line, and this was also true before adding more oil. The unit ran the same after adding oil. It may have been slightly worse, but I think that is in my head. I finished my driveway, so it ran for about 30 minutes like this. Could this be as simple as it having too much oil and me needing to drain/refill? I hope so, and that there is no damage or serious adjustments needed because of it. Everything else looks/sounds/feels right, so I don't know what else it could be with such a new snowblower. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Finally, I am confused about the choke knob. The manual says for choke to turn it fully clockwise and it pictures the knob which has a straight vertical line on it when in the "run" position, and the line is angled when at the "choke" position. This is all well and good, but when I turn the knob counter clockwise to go back to "run" it will go beyond the straight vertical line pictured to an angle in the opposite direction. The manual says nothing about the position for "run" (nor does the unit have a run/choke label) just the vertical line picture. Should I be running this in the almost fully turned counter clockwise position with the line in it's vertical state, or a few more clicks to fully turned counter clockwise with the line angled the other way? Im not sure if this other direction makes it run too rich or is again choking the engine or if it is the "run" setting and the knob is just on wrong or something. I hope this makes sense. When I run the engine at idle and put it to the fully counter clockwise position it seems to cycle the engine (revs up and down slightly) but at the vertical position it does not. I tried both positions while running the snowblower today and it didn't affect the other issues I am having.
 
  #2  
Old 12-04-10, 06:34 PM
I
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Central New Hampshire
Posts: 658
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Sounds like the gas cap vent is clogged. Clean the gas cap and make sure the tiny vent holes are open. You may also be running it partially choked. If the pic shows the knob straight up, then that would be the run position. By tuning past the position, you are choking it. Here is a rough example.
Choke= / no choke = _
 
  #3  
Old 12-04-10, 06:39 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Thanks. The diagram shows it as choke = / and no choke = | but I can turn the knob to make it look like \ as well. \ = all the way counter clockwise, | = a little bit before all the way counter clockwise and / = all the way clockwise & fully choked.

I'll check the gas cap vents, but why, if they were clogged, would gas leak out of what Im guessing is the primer valve, carburetor or something around there, when I take the gas cap off?

I ran the engine and both the | and \ positions for the choke and it still had the issues with bogging down, so that is something else... either too much oil, the gas cap vent, any other source for the leak, or something else.
 
  #4  
Old 12-05-10, 09:14 AM
S
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 583
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
The Murray

Even if you over pump the primer the engine will clear up after a few secconds. It may be the float and or the float needle valve seat. It may clear up with a goog dose of Gumout, if not you should go over the whole fuel system.
Sid
 
  #5  
Old 12-05-10, 09:29 AM
BFHFixit's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA.
Posts: 1,511
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Boomstick
Thanks. The diagram shows it as choke = / and no choke = | but I can turn the knob to make it look like \ as well. \ = all the way counter clockwise, | = a little bit before all the way counter clockwise and / = all the way clockwise & fully choked.

I'll check the gas cap vents, but why, if they were clogged, would gas leak out of what Im guessing is the primer valve, carburetor or something around there, when I take the gas cap off?

I ran the engine and both the | and \ positions for the choke and it still had the issues with bogging down, so that is something else... either too much oil, the gas cap vent, any other source for the leak, or something else.
I would imagine the diagram refers to the choke plate inside the carb, not the position of the knob. l-l is choke, l\l partial choke l l l no choke.
 
  #6  
Old 12-05-10, 10:50 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Does anyone have any insight as to there being too much oil in the crankcase, and what symptoms that would cause?
 
  #7  
Old 12-06-10, 06:29 AM
BFHFixit's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA.
Posts: 1,511
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Manuals | Customer Support | Briggs & Stratton

Use the above link to locate and then post the model number for your engine so we can see just what you have.
 
  #8  
Old 12-06-10, 04:10 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I believe it is model 120000. 205cc, snow series 800 engine manufactured in 2009.
 
  #9  
Old 12-06-10, 07:01 PM
BFHFixit's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA.
Posts: 1,511
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
If you check the link you will see that those numbers do not correspond to model-type-code format for briggs which is required to access the manuals.
 
  #10  
Old 12-06-10, 07:23 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I'll have to get back to you. The manual is right in front of me and it says "Model: 120000" and the sticker on the engine says "Snow Series 800 205cc". Their web-site is useless for identification purposes. You can not browse the manuals. You have to search by the exact model number, and it doesn't recognize the 120000 that their own manual calls out. There is a button to browse, and on any other site you'd get a list and be able to sort them or it would ask you further questions to narrow your search down. Briggs & Stratton's site does nothing when you click on browse.

I found a template to assist in locating the engine code, which I guess is different than the model number, but used in place as the model number for manual downloading purposes. I will look for it tomorrow as it is far too cold to motivate myself to go outside right now.
 
  #11  
Old 12-06-10, 08:43 PM
BFHFixit's Avatar
Banned. Rule And/Or Policy Violation
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA.
Posts: 1,511
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
The link I provided has a 1-2-3 step process showing precisely how to locate the numbers you need to get the proper manual. We do not control the manufactures, merely try to figure out how to access their information as they make it available.
Briggs has been consistent with their own model numbering for as many years as I have been working with small engines.
I would like to apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused, how ever, you are the one who can see the engine, not us.

Peace,
BFH
 
  #12  
Old 12-06-10, 09:04 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I appreciate your effort, though a link to their web-site is not a 1, 2, 3 guide to finding the engine model number.

My issue is with Briggs, not you. Their web site does not easily identify the model number based on the methods they provide. They offer a browse function, but it doesn't work, as it points to nothing. Their manual, which I am currently looking at, clearly identifies my engine and says, "model: 120000". Apparently this is not correct. Again, these issues are not involving you. I will go out and get the engine model number as it is stamped to the info/ID plate off of the engine.
 
  #13  
Old 12-06-10, 09:46 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Off of the engine it stats 12A113-0138-E8. I assume the manual's reference to 120000 the 0s could be Xs and are stand ins for the other characters that call out specific features of a base 12XXXX engine. The manual has generic information for several of the different models they offer
 
  #14  
Old 12-09-10, 05:30 PM
B
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 8
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I drained the oil today and it seems like there might have been about 4-6 oz too much. Would that be enough to cause trouble? The gas looks a little cloudy, though it was clean when I put it in. Im running it through with gumout, and I ran the engine while spraying what I could get to of the carburetor with spay gumout. I'll see how it runs with the next substantial snow. To do further work to the carb or to inspect/replace the spark plug would require tools I didn't have at the time to get to those parts. What symptoms would I have with a fouled plug?
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description: