Tecumseh HMSK80 No Spark - Easy Fix!

Check This Out!
Today we'll be working on a Tecumseh HMSK80 that won't start.
This snow blower has been fully serviced, started and ran perfectly the day before, but now has no spark.
This particular issue has only happened to me once before, making this the 2nd time it's happened.
In today's video I'll be showing you this very uncommon issue that many people overlook, because they've never had it happen to them before.
However, once you see this issue, you'll always look for it in the future!
This "fix" will cover all Tecumseh HMSK engines.
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[@b01tact10n]

I still rely alot on the older Tecumseh engines and they are bulletproof hard to beat engines! Very great video with good content!

[@mnmarlin6074]

Wow that is interesting. Saved somebody a bunch of headscratching with that video!

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes hopefully, it's definitely uncommon as I mentioned it's only happened twice in many many years.

[@dfields9511]

Cool, I had a lawnmower that would not turn off that had a similar issue , just bend some metal to fix it.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Anything that shares this design can technically be affected by this issue. I always look for it now as a quick fix to an otherwise costly repair. Thanks for watching!

[@robertmailhos8159]

Glad you are going to keep these classic engine,s still in working order 👍👌

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes, they are absolute work horses. Thanks for watching!

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@EliminatorPerformance yes they are the work horses from back in the day you are welcome young man 👍😎

[@b01tact10n]

Absolutely right on the button! Someone has to definitely, because these older models are springing up everywhere near dumpsters. Along with Briggs flatheads and homelite saws hard to believe they get thrown away like nothing.

[@robertmailhos8159]

@@b01tact10n that is the truth about that that people are throwing them out

[@scottya.1705]

Thank you so much, this video helped. I have a 10hp simplicity and this was the exact problem. I appreciate it!

[@chrisssmallengines7163]

Love these older machines , they are built to be serviced . If serviced they are dependable , and last for a long time . I have one from the 90s with a 10hp engine and I love it .

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes they definitely don't build them like they used to. Thanks for watching!

[@repairitdontwreckit4257]

Great tip. Love these older snow blowers. Solid units. Thanks

[@waltwhite1646]

Thank U ! ... I went thru 10-15 videos on the 5hp Tecumseh grounding and ALL but you went to replacing ignition module ! Instead of checking basic like with the wire touching the body - I checked it on mine,the wire was leaning against the metal cover - 2 minutes later - pushed wire off and sno blower started right up ! ... gave U a "Like", subscribe and Thank U !

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks for watching, glad it helped!

[@waynestefinashen239]

My son tends to be an extremely thorough technician and has done many exceptional videos. Very proud of him and hope i live long enough to see him in a new shop that he has designed.

[@user-ki7wb2rl1l]

Great advice. Snow blower fired up as soon as I did what you said. Thanks

[@KensSmallEngineRepair]

Definitely a modified cover to suit the Briggs muffler on a Tecumseh! The correct police will be after him shortly!! Robertson screws on a Tecumseh? Nope!! Good vid Jake!

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yea definitely figured this one was modified seeing all the pieces. And these usually they have the square-ish tecumseh mufflers, or the more rectangular ones that face forwards right? This one seems to work good though, thanks for watching!

[@davidpawson7393]

The exhaust port is threaded for this style replacement muffler. One of my free snowblowers has one as someone really messed the block up with a drill after snapping the bolts off.

[@KensSmallEngineRepair]

@@EliminatorPerformance you would have to look up the machine’s IPL to verify which muffler was on there. It shows as an 8hp on the shroud but that design thrower normally had a 5 hp engine on it. A transplant perhaps?

[@EliminatorPerformance]

@@KensSmallEngineRepair possible, I know the 23" ones had the 5hp, this one's a 25" and the 8/25s are popular here in Canada, I'd have to run the model to confirm

[@waynestefinashen239]

Yes but the Robby way better than the Philly

[@johnbenton9035]

Just the video I needed. I'm no stranger to working on stuff like this but I don't do it regularly anymore so my brain isn't tuned to to right go the problem, plus my 65 yr old body doesn't like to get low to the ground so much anymore. I have an old snowblower with a 10HP Tecumseh. It ran great when I put it away for the season an now, no spark. I diddled around with the key switch to no avail. I was afraid I was going to have to pull the flywheel and mess with points and condenser or coil. But I found your video and went right to the problem. It wasn't exactly the same problem as yours, but it was the same issue. I went from no spark to spark in a matter of minutes due to you. Can't thank you enough. I sent a PayPal tip.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Glad the video helped, thanks for the support!

[@jamiesawyer5102]

You're a genius, that is a super useful tip, I think I have missed that on a machine before.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks Jamie, and yes very easy to overlook if you've never had this issue before!

[@anthonyiron4635]

How timely your video. I have a 5hp Tecumseh with no spark, but my fix is not that. I will be calling you tomorrow for a new coil. I also like classic machines. Keep up the videos. They are educational and watching you work from my couch is ALMOST the same as me having the fun of doing the work myself. But warmer this time of year. Thank you

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Anthony, since this video was filmed (as I'm sure you know) we got hit Friday and Saturday with lots of snow. We're completely booked til next Sunday! Absolutely wild, everyone called at the same time. Talk to you tomorrow!

[@beachbums2008]

Great informational video! Keep the videos coming to Pittsburgh Pa. I've learned some different things from them God bless 🙏

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks for watching!

[@Turningwrenches85]

Good video there jake , I would never thought that panel would have Been the ploblem to cause a no spark but a easy fix to remedy the ploblem good explanation

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks for watching TW!

[@Turningwrenches85]

@@EliminatorPerformance your welcome EP 😎

[@waynestefinashen239]

So now you tell me you had this condition before after i had pulled the housing to check the ground wire and the coil gap then reinstalled the recoil cover LOL. Well i almost had a crap when you pointed the problem out to me what a simple fix is right, wish you would have said to check that first but it makes sense since this customer cut that heat shield out to install a cheaper style muffler than what it calls for. But at least he covered it in, although it did weaken the integrity of the cover and this is likely why it was bent in there and touching the kill shut off. A very good video that i am sure will help many out and save them a lot of time just wish it would have been me! Still bugs me that i never caught it but that is why your the boss eh?

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes I believe on a John Deere snowblower with a Tecumseh engine we had bought and sold, I forget as it's been so long ago. It's a good thing we teach each other and both learn, small things like this make life easier for the both of us!

[@cliffperry]

Thank you for a few videos that helped me on this machine. I had it PURRING then reassembled it and NOTHING. Went over everything again. Saw This vid. But it wasn’t the prob. I’ll disassemble Again tommorrow. - i love your professsional presentations = installs confidence.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Could be the wire grounding, read the comments, another viewer found a wire touching the chassis and that grounded the coil

[@waynestefinashen239]

Watch YT repair videos, do the work, the more you do the more confident you become. Within a short period of time you have your own repair shop going strong. Thanks.

[@danielrobert7181]

Hey thanks for sharing because tracing down the grounding issue to that cover sure wasn't evident !

[@skylineauraearthline8204]

Excellent detailed photo and explanation, bent metal is common, great tip !

[@user-rg5oy5tq6g]

Thank you. Thought I was going crazy, had spark until I put it all together, then no spark. You solved it for me.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Solved it for myself too! It's only happened to me twice but worthy of a video I thought.

[@tannerc900]

Awesome video! Completely unrelated but that’s a sick Gulf Pro Furls sign back there. Love that kind of stuff

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Gulf Pro Fuels were kind enough to send us some fuel and the sign, and unfortunately they have not responded to our emails about shipping costs as we were initially set up to become a Gulf Pro Fuels dealer. Hoping things get straightened out, as the TruFuel is not the greatest, and we're no longer using that. Also, my Aspen supply has run out, and I can no longer purchase it.

[@waynestefinashen239]

Yes sir love that one.

[@Big_Johns]

Good catch Jake, I haven't had that problem on a snow blower yet, as matter of fact I've never had a snow blower either. 🙂 Pops seems to be quite the celebrity on the Live Streams now, we enjoy him being there. 👍

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks John, he enjoys the streams. And lucky you, we're booked a week out! We both worked the weekend to try and get as much equipment out as possible

[@Big_Johns]

That’s always good though, thanks bud and y’all stay warm up there.

[@waynestefinashen239]

Just trying to get the same star quality you have Big Man eh?

[@Big_Johns]

LoL.... so you're stooping to my level, thanks 🤣

[@gravelyman]

Good video Jake. I came across that on the older Tecumseh engines as well. Take care 🔧👍

[@waynestefinashen239]

Thanks for the comment and like hope you are doing well my friend. Will be giving the Chubby Butcher one of your spare stickers you sent to use in his next video if thats ok.

[@gravelyman]

@@waynestefinashen239 Any time Wayne and Thank you very much 🔧👍

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes as I mentioned very uncommon, and easy to miss. Quite a simple grounding issue that is easily overlooked because no one thinks about the mechanics of the switch.

[@renezamora4879]

“How’s it going eliminator?”….…….haven’t watched this presentation to its entirety yet. ”So with that being said”, I’m gonna finish my 2nd cup of coffee here and finish watching 😊

[@EliminatorPerformance]

How many cups of coffee have you had, cheers Rene ☕

[@davidpawson7393]

The exhaust ports on these engines are threaded for this style replacement muffler. I had to install one after the owner snapped the muffler bolts and drilled holes missing the pieces left. This ground issue is something that took me too long but I got it after thinking like an angry pixie.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Haha yea I forget what the specifics were the 1st time I discovered this issue, I believe I had purchased a snowblower that wouldn't start because it had no spark, got a great deal because of it, and then later while working on the machine to fix up, discovered the ground issue.

[@zedro11]

Thanks Man! It was my issue. Aeries. Swich broke. Just unplugged connector.

[@tomlewis3658]

Nice. That had to be frustrating when it wouldn't start after the work was completed, until you discovered the cause of the ignition short. That unit looks to be pretty old, but still in solid condition. Maybe that means the owner takes care of it, and can get a lot more winters out of it.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

I sure hope so, I can see he's got the old school weight set on it too. These machines are work horses forsure!

[@vernonbruce3722]

Great job. Good video. That thing runs like a top to be so old. Hope you reminded the owner to not let it sit up with old gas in it.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes definitely, haven't had a chance to deliver it yet as we've been so busy

[@donvoll2580]

Good day Boy interesting video. It must be fustarting to fix something complete & find out it doesn't start , to go allover again to find out. Thanks

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes, clean the carb and then it runs, reassemble the cover and then it doesn't, head scratcher as I said lol thanks for watching Don!

[@jonlambshead5115]

Good Video, I Hate When Little Things Like That Happen, Especially In Front of A Customer. They Could Do With Some Sort Of Plastic Strip There To Prevent This Happening In The Future. A Bit Of A Design Fault Maybe ?

[@waynestefinashen239]

On these older units we test run them with the heat shield off in case we need to make some adjustments then after installing the heat shield we fire it up again. Without doing that yes we would feel stupid when the customer showed up and here we go and it is grounding out and we did not know.

[@MrJcrandall7]

Awesome !!! Just saved me so much time! Thanks !!!!

[@henrymurawskibigdogrepair]

Well done Jake nice to see the old machines still working

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks, runs great! Customer will have to keep it maintained.

[@waynestefinashen239]

Betcha not many notice the lead weights on the front of this auger housing eh?

[@mayflowertrillium]

Thanks! Interesting problem, and good diagnostics. I'd suggest attaching (glue?) some insulating material (thin rubber?) to the inside of the metal you formed outward. That way, the problem won't reoccur if something (snow/ice?) presses the metal back toward the cutoff wire.

[@TheIceman50]

Great stuff!

[@DIYVariety]

Wow good call man who would have thought

[@waynestefinashen239]

I never thought it really amazed me, first time i saw that

[@DIYVariety]

@@waynestefinashen239 I never seen that but i like seeing new trouble shooting ideas.

[@waynestefinashen239]

@@DIYVariety This is the channel to watch he always gets something interesting and does a video you just can not do carb cleaning videos all the time eh?

[@sxewhodey]

A little different issue, but I can't find a good article to verify. Might be a good idea for a future video. Where the stator mounts on the top mount of the casting, that commonly breaks off. Do you know if the mount on the bottom is the same exact distance and can be used to mount the stator to? Trying to figure out if the replacement stator and light I ordered can be mounted to the bottom mount and generate power for the light. Thanks. Great channel I always come to for reference when things arent going smoothly !

[@RussellHoughton]

I've had trouble with those switches on push mowers before. They back out of the plastic sometimes.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes, I find it's better to disconnect all ground switches except for 1 and leave it at that. Although I believe engines these days required 2 at minimum to meet safety standards. Thanks for watching!

[@waynestefinashen239]

But easy to repair good that you have found that out many go and buy a coil before checking the kill switch area.

[@BrucesShop]

The rest of the story is oil grease tweking things. Fun stuff.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

There's definitely always something to adjust on these old blowers, thanks for watching Bruce!

[@LewisMowersandBoats]

Great show brother 👏 I forgot about that little trick 😁

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks for watching!

[@Devin717az]

I m having an intermediate issue with mine where itll just cut off like the kill switch was used, gonna go check for this issue rn!

[@motorcoachtech7615]

Good little catch Jake. I think on some of the older units they had a strip of rubber along the edge of the opening. I think it was to prevent you from cutting yourself on the metal edge. How much snow did you get when Buffalo received the 6ft? Have a good week. Rick

[@EliminatorPerformance]

I believe around 15 inches within 24hrs, we were lucky and just caught the tail end of the storm blowing off the lake over to Buffalo. It literally just missed us and I'm glad, I had 34 snowblowers booked, still working on getting them done. We've been working 7 days a week here

[@kenhilson786]

Certainly never came with that muffler. I usually but a piece of metal over the top to prevent touching it.

[@waynestefinashen239]

No this is a customer or previous owner replacement to avoid cost of the oem muffler that runs around $40 Cdn.

[@user-ki7wb2rl1l]

Snow blower fired right up after doing what you said

[@belsayshootingground]

Can you do some chainsaw engine stuff please mate? Would love to watch your version!

[@philliphall5198]

It needs a peace of rubber bolted inside that area

[@waynestefinashen239]

Great idea sir

[@wannawin95]

That's definitely not the oem muffler and heater box... Those Tecumseh exhaust and bolts love to get rusty and fall apart. When you try to take the bolts out, they shear off in the block alot. Rather than trying to drill and tap new bolt holes and risk damaging the block, people often throw a generic pipe exhaust on it since the block has threads in the exhaust port. Sometimes those pipe exhausts are actually quiter than the simpler Tecumseh one... I've personally used a similar pipe exhaust and trimmed the heater box to make it look OEM and fit properly.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes Ken said it's a Briggs muffler on there, modified cover to make it work. Those Tecumseh muffler kits are like $70 here in Canada. And even aftermarket from Atlas (MTD) they're like $60 something... With tax and shipping, almost OEM price.

[@wannawin95]

@@EliminatorPerformance I used a Canadian Tire off brand generic one on an 8HP Tecumseh. Only cost about $20. I have a feeling that's also what's on here...

[@TheTruthSeeker756]

damn I was hoping, but not the case for me. Have to keep searching

[@dclawnmaintenanceandsnowre4099]

👍👍👍👍

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Thanks DC!

[@davemeasor394]

Wish mine was that easy -no spark with kill wire loose not touching

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Time to replace the coil if it doesn't produce spark with the kill wire disconnected

[@Goomer]

Wow, weird one.

[@EliminatorPerformance]

Yes definitely, only the 2nd time it's happened in over 10yrs of servicing this type of equipment. Real head scratcher as I said lol

[@NageLBeT]

i have the same engine, mine dies after a few minutes, then i can start it back up again and it dies again/BR

[@kenhilson786]

Nice old adjustable carb.

[@waynestefinashen239]

Yep at least you can tune these in to get them running with the proper mixture. The only problem that can occur is when you do them for customers in the warm summer weather and when it becomes sub zero you may need to open the main bottom slightly but we have been pretty luck setting the pilot out 1 full turn and the main 1.5 full turns both out. Some have said the pilot should be 3/4 out but we find a smoother idle at 1 turn out.

[@joe-el3eg]

Q

[@HBFTimmahh]

Thanx. I have as 3 ho Tecumseh tiller that has this style of throttle lever grounding setup. I didn't look at mine close enough as it's very similar. But, instead of bending the cover away from the ground wire, wouldn't it be better, and easier to just use needle nose pliers and restraighten the wire grounding pin itself as it's more likely to have been bent a bit over its years of use. But good catch and tip. Hope my thoughts helps.