Help!! Eskimo auger red hot muffler!!

[mhines]

I have a 1 year old Eskimo Mako power auger. It has been fine...up untill the last couple of times out. Today after drilling a couple(4) holes it was running terrible at WOT and would stall out. Idle was fine but anything more than 1/2 throttle it would bog down. I then noticed the muffler was GLOWING RED HOT!!!.........What would cause this?? It runs fine besides this. I am running last years gas if that could be the problem??? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[kerryd15]

clean the carb, it is running lean- making it overheat. make sure the oil is mixed right also.

[highlife4me]

+1 I was thinking not enough or any oil. Wouldn't hurt to check the carb either.

[MJ1657]

Clean the carb and get some fresh gas or you will be putting a piston in it.

[panfishpounder00]

yup. running lean, i had the same prob with my barracuda a couple years ago. i have swtched to jiffy since. very reliable, a bit heavier but well worth it...... but i'm certain that this could happen with any small engine so....

[ole matty]

I have same auger as your but 4 years old. I think the engine is very picky when it come to oil and gas mixture. Alway have fresh gas and oil in it. Too much it wld get clogged, not enough oil, won't run at full speed, kept dies when full throttle. I will never own another Eskimo auger to much headache. Wish I never gave my old reliable Strikemaster away.

[Ed Carlson]

Just a thought...could it be a restriction in the muffler on the auger?

As in a internal baffle may have collapsed causing it to restrict exhaust flow, and overheat?

[mhines]

Thanks for the replies!!....I was thinking it was a fuel issue too. I will try some new fresh gas, and see if that helps. I thought of the idea of a restriction(baffle) but it is less than 2 years old, with little use, so I'm hoping that is not the case. I will report back with my results.

[MJ1657]

Clean the carb. It would only take a few minutes.

[mhines]

Any tips and tricks to cleaning the carb?? Where to look for gunk?

[broken_line]

take some oil removing fluid (preferable either) and squirt every hole you see with it then go to town with a compressed air blowing on each hole, repeat a time or 2 also clean the outside of the carb first. even if you see nothing clogged clean it anyways. my guess is

1. no oil in gas

2. crappy grade oil

3. clogged main jet

4. exhaust port side of the piston is burnt allowing the gases to enter pipe and burn there insead of comustion chamber

5. broken flywheel key (messing up timing)

i have an eskimo barracuda and love the thing to death. i have another one that sat at the bottom of a gravel pit for 2 years, runs GREAT to this day other than every bolt is rusty but it runs like a charm.

i cant kill anything on the augers other than the blades and kill switch.

[mhines]

Well I emptied all the old gas out, mixed up some new gas/oil.............and it works just like new! Goes to show what old gas can do. Thanks to all for the help.

[Crm7290]

I think the red hot glowing muffler on the eskimos is common. My friend (on his second one) just took his out of the box today and was drilling some holes and I noticed that his muffler was bright red also. I think that your problem is what these guys say it is, but the muffler being red was just something you noticed now.