Any car mechanics out there?

“there's gas and oil.

i can slowly jiggle and sort of twitch the pullcord out, but that's it.”

“The spring loaded gizmo that controls the pull cord sounds like it is busted or jammed.

You should be able to that the assembly apart to look at it.”

“Can you tell the the spark plug cover is attached? The electric start should be able to start it up, even with the pull coed disabled.”

“but the electric start won't budge either”

“spark plug's connected fine. but not even a click from the eletric start”

“This might be stupid, but check and make sure the auger isn't engaged. I know my snow blower won’t start unless it’s disengaged.”

“to engage the auger you have to hold down the springy handle thing - i think.”

“Try, if you can to take off the belt cover and rotate the engine a couple of times by hand. Alot of times rust builds in the cylinder and makes the rings stick.”

“Try kicking it too!”

“but it's brand new!

i don't wanna wanna void the warranty, but loading it on a trailer and driving 40 min. (one way) to where i got it, then waiting 3 weeks for them to fix it does not appeal to me, if there might be an easy simple fix.”

“Maybe the battery is dead.

My dad had one that when the battery went dead, you could still plug it in to get the electric start to work.
last edited: 1/21/05 11:24:05 AM”

“no battery. the e- start is AC”

“Either your starter motor is locked up, or the pull start mechanism is locked up. If either one is engaged to the flywheel and jammed, nothing is going to move.”

“can you get it rolling and "pop the clutch" (engage the wheel drive) and try to at least get something to move inside?”

“Something like that happened to my last truck. The starter got jammed in the flywheel. All I had to do was roll it backward a little and the starter unjammed and I was able to start it normally. My neighbor, a mechanic, said that giving the starter a whack with a hammer will sometimes do the trick as well, but I'm not sure that's good advice for the starter on a snowblower.

If you can move the auger back and forth manually, that may unjam it. Best to disconnect the sparkplug wire before doing this, BTW.
last edited: 1/21/05 12:58:49 PM”

“Try, if you can to take off the belt cover and rotate the engine a couple of times by hand. Alot of times rust builds in the cylinder and makes the rings stick.”

Crazypace


This is the first place to start. Take the plug ot first.”

“went to sears last night and talked to guy in person.

turns out this is a very common problem w/ the model i bought, and they're coming up with a retro-fix it part or something this year.

problem is that condensation/water got down into the piston.

had to pull the sparkplug and then yank the cord. water shot out of the engine like old faithful!

anyway, thanks to all for the help and suggestions.”

“headgasket would be my first try”

“Looking at another used car today. '97 Subaru Legacy Outback. Cross your fingers.

The seller said the only problem she has is that when she turns the lights off at night, the headlights turn off, but the parking lights don't. She has to pull the fuse every night. Strange....

She does have an appt to have it checked and based on that appt will adjust the price of the car accordingly.

Any car experts have any comments? I know the electrical probs are usually hit or miss... But, does it sound like a quick, easy fix. Or an expensive one?”

“I gotta little 215 c.i. Alum. V8 that I would like increase the displacement to 250 or more,,but I read somewhere that it increases the motor weight. Is that right? and if so how much of a increase would it be?”

“By increasing the displacement of engine i.e. the cylinder(s) volume you are in no way increasing the weight of the engine. To increase the displacement you would have to have each cylinder wall bored out to the diameter of the desired diameter piston or actually the rings around the piston. All aluminum bock engines have steel sleeves in the piston walls. Or course the allowable increase in displacement for your engine is proportional to the thickness of this sleeve.
>
This 215 c.i. aluminum block wouldn't be the old Buick block that was purchased by British Leyland to install in a rare MGB six cylinder would it?”

“Yep! that is the one. I think the engine is pushing close to 190 hp. I placed a 4B Holly carb on it a few years back, to help it breath. Now, I've been thinking of either dressing the engine up or increasing the disp. over 250 c.i..”

“well, theoretically, reducing aluminum (block mass before re-installing steel cylinder sleeves) and increasing steel (larger pistons) has the potential to add wieght. it depends on the amounts of each.

how much can you bore an aluminum block? even with the steel sleeves, wouldn't heat be a concern?”

“Remember, there's no replacement for displacement!

My 455 CID powered '69 Firebird 400...
”

“My 455 CID powered '69 Firebird 400...


Now that is a car my friend.”

“Thanks! It is fun to drive...not too economical...but fun to drive! :)”

“That is f-ing sweeet...”

“I guess you could put it that way Bit! Bought it for $500 about 15 years ago. Some assembly required!”

“Hey y'all. Anyone good with electrical issues with a Nissan Sentra? My anti-theft gizmo (manufacturers, nothin fancy) seems to be on the fritz. It goes off (The horn) everytime I open a door. The remote is long gone. I opened the fuse box but was unable to get the fuse I thought was the problem out (there are 3 anti-theft fuses). When the horn stops I can't turn the car on.

Just got a 4-5 block tow for $95.

Any ideas?”

“Normally, you would insert the key in
the drivers door, turn left, then right
to disarm and reset it. If yours is malfunctioning,”

“I got a load of #&%!$ off google! Apparently I suck at google search. I did try that before the tow. It's working now. But all I did was insert key normally. I think I need to get my remote fixed?”

“I only like working on cars from about 1985 and older. Everything is easy to get to, no computer crap, and all you need are basic tools.”

“I am a Google God. J/K”

“Would that be a Google Goddle?”

“Curses You found me out! Come to the dark side Luke....”