bc.gold 3,403 #1 Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) The other day just after finishing up with blowing the snow from our long and steep driveway the Simplicity 9020 all of a sudden died and refused to restart. The sun came out late yesterday afternoon warming up enough that I decided to investigate the problem. First checked for fuel delivery, the electric pump was doing its job, plenty of gasoline in the tank, fuel filter not obstructed with an ice ball or dirt and no collapsed fuel lines which narrowed it down to ignition. Removed a spark plug, no spark, since I had recently replaced the condenser and contact points the problem had to be a bad coil, replaced the coil with a good spare and still no spark. Time to dig into the box the contains the points and condenser, a layer of ice had formed under the fibre. I suppose with the contacts flapping back and forth fanning the cold air this is the coldest spot inside the box. Time to change the oil as this is the only place from which moisture could have entered, in the past this engine has run flawlessly covered in blow back snow from the blower. Edited February 1, 2019 by bcgold Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bc.gold 3,403 #2 Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) Turns out the problem was mechanic related, you can clearly see that the gasket goop did not make full contact. And yes that is ice on the face of the gasket. Had to pass the torch over the contacts to remove the layer of ice on the contact surfaces, after that she fired right up, the hydro was a bit sluggish and had to shift the manual transmission down into first gear before the tractor would move. After the hydro has warmed up have no problem blowing snow in second gear She's back in the barn fixed a ready for the next snowfall. Edited February 1, 2019 by bcgold 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bc.gold 3,403 #3 Posted February 1, 2019 If you remove the box that holds the condenser and contact points be sure to scribe a line on the engine block, the screw holes are oblong then by moving the box to the right or left will either advance or retard ignition timing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites