Problems with a Toro 824 2 Stage Snowblower

[mcvickj]

I recently purchased a house and the previous home owners left a Toro 824 snow blower behind. I have been attempting to get it up and running. This past weekend I rebuilt the carb using a YouTube video as a guide. After the rebuild it started up on the first pull. Some minor tweaking and it was running great. I woke up the following day to work on it some more and now it won't start. I reset the fuel mixture screw set at 1.5 turns and the idle mixture screw set at 1 turn. The same settings it was at when it started the day prior. I also replaced the fuel line because it was looking a little brittle. I know the carb has gas because I can press the fuel dump on the bottom of the bowl and gas comes out. Any other thoughts? I guess I'll put both needles to see if there was some crud left in the tank and plugged the main needle.

The snow blower does not move on its own. I removed the belly pan and the traction wheel is in great shape. When I put it in gear it makes solid contact with the drive wheel. So I'm assuming it is the handle you have to hold onto to actually engage the drive. Well Toro has to be a little different and it isn't just a regular cable. It is an electrical switch. I have some pictures here.





Any thoughts on how I can test this to see where the fault is? I'm also wondering how it gets power to make the circuit work?

Also the starter motor is not working. It worked twice briefly but not any more. I tore it apart and it looks to be in pretty good shape I believe. There is a lot of carbon build up but the brushes looks like they still have life left and the commutator doesn't look burnt. I tested the switch and I know that is getting power.

 

[edro]

Small engine repair? If it's getting gas and spark, it's always the carburetor. Good luck.
Most repair shops simply replace the carburetor instead of tinkering with it too much.
A new carb is probably around $100-150. That is 2-3 hours of tinkering, or a new carb and 30min. to replace.

 

[3chordcharlie]

As a rule, when those electric motors don't work... they don't work. It's easy enough to bench-test the motor though, to rule out the starter switch.

If you suspect a switch you can depress it and see if the circuit opens or closes on your ohm-meter. In your third picture, power *may* be coming from voltage regulator via the red wire, feeding both white wires, or it could be coming in one white wire and out the other.

I was able to find parts lists for your machine at Toro's website.

 

[NutBucket]

If the starter motor quit working it may have lost a winding. It may work on the bench but won't have the torque to crank the engine. But I would definitely check the wiring of the whole machine first as it looks dodgy.