Hey guys, I have an older Ariens snowblower with a Tecumseh engine, most likely from the seventies. I have use it a couple of times this year but when I did it would backfire at idle. the last time I tried to start it, it would not go. I talked to my boss who used to sell and service ariens and he said it sounded like the point and condenser. I took it all apart and went to change the points. the last guy had stripped the screw holding the points on, so I took the point plate off so I could put it in the vise. Needless to say I did not mark where the plate went on. I have put it back in relatively the right place but I can't be sure. I have the points gapped and cleaned and it still will not catch. When I pull the rope I get that one easy pull like it wants to go but it will not catch. I have had the flywheel off three or four times checking the points and I had to replace the recoil rope and the key in the crankshaft. I am tired of hitting my head up against the wall. Could you help me please. How critical is the point plate placement and how would I get it back where it should be. I don't have any fancy tools like a dial indicator and I need to get this thing running. Help please.

I've got a craftsman 536.881510 snowblower. It has a Briggs & Stratton 4-stroke engine. The snowblower has an electric starter and a pull starter. The snowblower will only start using the electric starter. I cannot get the pull starter to turn over. It has a new spark plug, fresh gas, oil is full. I've tried with choke on, choke off, hot engine, cold engine...nothing with the pull start. The manual can be found here under the "Manual" tab. As you can see there is not a whole lot of detail in the troubleshooting section. [url]http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/part-model/Craftsman-Parts/All-Products-Parts/user-manuals/manual-downloads/Model-536881510/0247/1507200?modelNumber=536881510&diagramPageId=&documentId=[/url] I'm glad the unit works, but if it dies in the middle of clearing the driveway, it's a pain to have to go back to the garage to plug it in. Any suggestions? Thanks! Here's a picture of the unit I own. [IMG]http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv4%3A4%3B%3Dot%3E2364%3D%3A39%3D4%3A6%3DXROQDF%3E2%3A885%3B9%3C6%3C23%3Bot1lsi[/IMG]