Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

My experience with an Ariens ST11528LE snow thrower and surging/stalling problems:

I bought an Ariens snow thrower in the fall of 2005 and I couldn't wait to use it.  The season went without a hitch and I was very impressed with my new machine.  It performed flawlessly.  I always add fuel stabilizer to the gas for any small engines that I own, therefore I added fuel stabilizer to the tank every time I refueled.  Then I stored it for the season.

The next fall, with the first snow fall, the engine surged and then stalled after about 5 minutes of operation.  After cooling down, it would start and then stall again after about 5 minutes.  I called the local dealer and arranged for the thrower to be picked up and serviced under warantee (or so I thought).  After the dealer disassembled the carburetor, cleaned and reinstalled it, it cost me about $75, not including $50 for transportation to/from the dealer.  The dealer told me that bad fuel was not covered under the warrantee.  I told the dealer that I had added fuel stabilizer to the gas before storage, but he said that I should have drained the gas.  I felt that I had been ripped off for $125.

The thrower worked just like new.  It was back to its new performance.  Then come the next fall and the Ariens did the same thing:  surging and stalling after about 5 minutes.  Well, I wasn't about to spend another $125 for repairs, so I thought that the main issue must be gas contamination, even though I had added stabilizer to the fuel.

Then I remembered a 250 HP outboard engine that was causing me missed firing problems that were solved with "Sea Foam".   I cleaned the Tecumseh engine with a big dose of Sea Foam and the problem went away.  I added about 2 to 3 oz of Sea Foam to the gas tank.  It at first ran rough, surging, and after about one minute I heard an improvement in the firing of the engine.  It continued to improve, and after about 5 minutes, the engine was running smooth without any surging or roughness.

I have since used the Ariens with the last snow fall without any problems.  The engine runs smooth and powerful, just like new.

You can purchase Sea Foam at any Napa dealer.

Hope this helps fellow snow throwers.  Let me know of any similar occurrences.

I am convinced from spending a day reading internet forums that the lean carburetor dictated by the EPA is causing a lot of problems with Ariens snow throwers.  Ariens should address this problem with an update on fuel additives, or more importantly, redesign their carbs to support the new restrictions.