Ice auger wont run

[Timmy the tooth]

I bought an auger at a garage sale and cant get it to run.Where can I get a carb.rebuild kit?Its a Magnum 3000 model 107.

[roadkingclasic56]

There are some simple things to try before you dig into the carb. Installing a new kit is kind of a drastic measure. I assume you have tried everything you can think of. Spark plug, fresh fuel, etc..I had to let my auger sit in the house overnight this year. Some ice in the fuel line. Started third pull the next day.

[polarsusd81]

Before you rebuild the carb, I would start like roadking said and get a new plug, and fresh fuel. The other thing I would do, remove the gas line and the carb and soak them in fresh, non-mix gas overnight to help remove any built up grime. Get it nice and cleaned up and then put it back together. If you can see that gaskets and what not are physically worn to the point of no return, then you might want to get the carb rebuild kit.

I hardly do any maintainance to my auger and the thing runs like a champ. Just make sure to run it dry in the spring, pull the plug, spray a bit of fogging oil, pull for a couple strokes of the piston, reinstall plug. In the fall, get a new plug and put in fresh gas. Should start right up for ya. I like to put the new plug in for the fall, rather than let a new one sit in the chamber all summer with the fogging oil.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: polarsusd81

I hardly do any maintainance to my auger and the thing runs like a champ. Just make sure to run it dry in the spring, pull the plug, spray a bit of fogging oil, pull for a couple strokes of the piston, reinstall plug. In the fall, get a new plug and put in fresh gas. Should start right up for ya. I like to put the new plug in for the fall, rather than let a new one sit in the chamber all summer with the fogging oil.

Seams like everyone has their own way of doing this "summerization" thing but running the auger dry is the last thing I'd personally do. I'd top the tank off and add Sta-Bil or Sea-Foam to the tank of gas, they'll both work as a stabilizer over the summer.

A dry tank usually equals dry carb gaskets and diaphragms along with a bad case of varnish wherever fuel is allowed to remain in the system.

But back to your original question...

A motor needs 3 simple things to run- air, fuel, and spark. Air is usually not the problem, its fuel or spark. In more complex engines, its spark at the right time but thats a different story.

A Mag III should be able to be started by flipping the On/Off switch to 'On' obviously, the choke lever down (which is full choke), and start pulling. If it absolutely will not pop off, one of two things is happening, #1 would be it flooded and #2 would be not enough gas. Normally I would try to resolve the flooding situation first by holding the throttle all the way down and continuing to pull, but it sounds like you are either not getting fuel to the combustion chamber or not getting the spark.

So... after pulling and pulling and pulling with this auger on full choke, is your spark plug wet with gas? If so... you're going to need to look at a new plug to start, and also make sure your On/Off switch is working properly.

If after pulling and pulling and pulling and your spark plug is not wet with gas, you'll have to take a look at that carburetor.

Definitely do the fresh gas/oil mix, put a new plug in, and give it a whirl. If she don't fire, check for spark, then do that carburetor kit.

[eurolarva]

Has it ever ran or even coughed for you? When you remove the spark plug is the tip wet with gas or can you smell gas on the plug tip? I would test for spark first then try and put a couple of drops into the spark plug hole then put the plug back and see if it will even cough. I agree with everything Polarsusd81 says except for running the motor dry in spring unless it is a four stroke. A two stroke motors require oil in the gas for lubrication. When a motor is run dry it will start to race during the lean condition and can cause head damage. On an outboard when doing this you should be spraying fogging oil into the carbs while running the gas out so that the motor still gets oil.

[Squirtis]

Did you get any info from the party you bought it from, as far as how long it has been since it was last used? I assume, since it was a garage sale, it was this summer when purchased and maybe a few years since it was run. I would start with a good fresh tank of well-mixed high octane gas. Winter gas has a higher concentration of Butane in it, which helps atomize the fuel at low temps. As gas sits, the Butane will boil off over time so this is the first thing I do with a winter 2-stroke. After this is done, maybe try a few squirts of starting fluid, but be careful, it is very volatile. I agree with the last post, at very last resort get the carb kit. You should be able to get one off Strikemaster's HSOforum. I also would avoid running the carb dry as I have had gaskets dry up and then leak and varnish up because of this. Hope this helps.

Curtis

P.S. Report back what you find out.

[polarsusd81]

I might have to rethink how I store it in the spring after reading what you guys said. I didn't know that it was bad to run it dry. It has never given me any trouble in the seven years I have had the auger, but it would suck to have it start giving me problems.

All in all, the power heads on these augers are pretty tough little pieces of equipment. It really takes a lot of abuse (in my personal observations) for one not to run. A little tweaking here and there and they fire right up.

[123fish]

I'm no auger expert but for the last two winters I have had to do exactly what squirtis suggested and give my Mag III a couple of shots of starting fluid to get it to fire up for the first start of the season and after doing this one time it has started on it's own for the rest of the winter. This was after trying to start it normally both years. Next winter I'll save my arm and give it a shot right off the bat.

[sodajerk]

The manual for my Lazer Mag says to drain the fuel sytem for storage, but then below that it says that fuel stabilizer is an acceptable alternative for storage.

This is the first year I've owned a power auger and from what I've read here, I think I'll add some Sea-Foam to the gas and store it with fuel in the system. Starting it a couple times over the summer/fall probably couldn't hurt either.

[Squirtis]

This is purely second-hand info, but I have heard that as good as Stabil and Sea-foam are, all they do(which is good in itself) is to keep the fuel from breaking down to form kerosene and varnish in the system. It won't keep the Butane in the winter fuel from vaporizing in the tank, so new fuel is a good idea for starting up in the winter. The starting fluid thing is good with diaphram type carbs (like ours on our augers). I noticed that it takes a good revving of the engine during the first start to get fuel flowing through the carb again.

Good Luck,

Curtis

[germanshorthairs]

A carb kit costs about $10 and is very easy to install if you are somewhat mechanically inclined. The other ideas are great but if they don't work nine out of ten times augers just need a carb kit.

[harleyharry]

Most all of your ideas are good, but some need to be explored a little.

Using starting fluid can get you in trouble. When the two cycle engine has sat all season without being run, there is very little residual lubricant left in the crankcase bearings or the cylinder. Starting fluid is an extremely good cleaner and degreaser. I have seen two cycle engines seized on as little as three little puffs of starting fluid to try to get them to start.

The carbs on most of the two cycles engines are either Walbro or Zama carbs. These are diaphragm style carbs. When the carbs set for an extended period of time, the inlet and out let fuel pads on the diaphragms will stick to the base they are mounted to. This is usually due to the fuel evaporating and leaving behind a minor amount of a varnish type substance. This usually had to be cleaned and a new diaphragm installed to solve the hard starting problem.

Using higher octane fuel will help with the fuel evaporation problem, and the higher the octane, the longer the fuel will remain viable. We have always recommended in our shop to our customer that they stabalize the fuel, then run the engine until the fuel is ran out of the carb and the engine will die out at this time.

Also remember that fuel stabalizers will only maintain the condition of the fuel in the state it is in when the stabalizer is added. New fuel stabalized, good for at least six months. Six month old fuel stabalized at six months, junk fuel.

Hope this helps.

Harry

[drsuess]

starting fluid shouldn't be used on 2 cycle motors for the reason they don't have any type of lubrication,spray silicone lubricant,or WD-40 is a much better.Its not a bad idea to spray some WD-40 in the cylinder for the off seasons too.