Snowblower won’t start
Jan 9, 2010 Home Improvement
So living in Northern Indiana and being a new home owner I get to take part in snow removal in my driveway. I was given an older Craftsman snow blower from my Dad as he had several. The most recent time I went to start it the pull cord only came all the way out without trying to turn the motor over. After a quick phone call to my Dad to find out if he had ever experienced this (and he had not) then it was time to start taking things apart!
Tools:
- Socket set
- Socket extension bar to get better reach
I was able to remove the 4 nuts holding the pull cord mechanism on and find the problem easily. The ratchet that catches some stops to turn the motor over came out of place and was laying in the cylinder behind the pull cord. After putting this piece back in place everything worked well! Pictures are below of the process.
Tags: Craftsman, DIY, Fix, snow, snowblower
Garage door only goes half way up
Dec 11, 2009 Home Improvement
This is the first year I have ever had a garage to park my truck in. Just as it started to get colder my garage door started not opening all the way. You could push the button to open the door and it would stop half way up, then when you put it down and then back up again it would open all the way. As it got colder the door just would not go any further than half way up no matter how many times you pushed the button. In one case just to make it to work on time I pulled the emergency release cord to let the door work without the opener. Once my truck was out I re-attached the opener and exited out another door once the garage door was all the way down. After taking the case of the opener apart to make sure none of the gears were stripped I had thought that the tracks should be lubricated. Not knowing how old the opener was (possibly original to the house 18 years ago) I picked up some lubrication from the local Sears store. After running the door up and down several times to lubricate the entire screw everything was working as expected. Even after a night of freezing temperatures the garage door opened smoothly without any problems the morning after the lubrication was applied.
When in doubt…. lubricate!