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

Hi! We have over 24 inches of snow. I have been trying to keep up but got behind last night. Normally we use the snowblower when it is 6" deep or less. Now the snow is about 18-20" and my daugher has been going after it with the snowblower for several hours. She just came in and said it started smoking near the push start area. She shut it off right away. The smoke was not blue or black but the color of cigarette smoke. She noticed a slight smell of gas (she thinks).

Did she just overwork the engine? It it okay to start it again? I told her to shovel the top layers and try to get it down so we can use the snowblower. Do you think that after the engine cools down it will be okay.

Thank you so much for you answers in advance. We really do not know what we are doing.

She said:

"it started smoking near the push start area"

It seems like for the first report and for the second mention of smoke the poster was not there and getting the report from her daughter. I assumed since there was no mention of unusual smoke from the muffler that the smoke was from the head only - big difference.

So the possibilities are:

It might have been from the muffler only and not so unusual.

It might be that there was smoke going out the muffler AND from the head area on top. The muffler might be loose and smoking. Some smoke might be comming from muffler block connection and going up through carburetor heater box and possibly seeping through the head area.

There might be no unusual smoke out of the muffler and smoke up through the head area which is unusual. Possibly the head is cracked or leaking through the head gasket.

Well, the good news is that it is still running.
Maybe she put the choke on?
I would just keep using it. It is either going to work, or it is about to grenade. If it is about to grenade, not much you can do about it anyway. And by grenade, I do not mean something that is harmful to the operator, just the internals of the engine.
If it is overfull of oil, it will smoke. If the choke was put on while it was running it will smoke. Snow hitting the engine will make it smoke (steam).
Other than that, it *might* be internal damage - but so what? It is a lame horse at that point. Chances are good that it will last for years.

Go clear your driveway. And thank your husband for his service to our Country for me.

Where abouts are you?