What will a bad Spark Plug do for a Snowblower

The answer to the question, what will a bad spark plug do for a snowblower, is nothing good. At the very least, your engine may run rough, be difficult to start and use more fuel than normal. At the very worst it will not stat at all, especially on the coldest day of the year or when you have the most snow. These things just have a habit of occurring at the worst times leaving you to shovel snow or look for help from a neighbor.

Your snowblower engine can run rough for other reasons as well such as bad gasoline, a gummed up carburetor and other issues. However one of the easiest things to check first is the condition of your spark plug. The one shown in this picture needs to be clean and reset. It may even need to be replaced if the corrosion is bad once you remove all of the dirt etc.

What will a bad Spark Plug do for a Snowblower

Remove the spark plug while being careful not to dislodge any dirt from around the spark plug area. Disconnect the wire first. You will need to use a spark plug removal tool to unscrew it from the engine.

Once it is out, clean it with sand paper and a spark plug cleaning tool. If there are pock marks in the porcelain or you cannot get it to clean up just buy a new one. In both cases you will need to reset the gap according to the manufacturers specifications.

While the spark plug is removed you should also verify that it is producing adequate spark. Reattach the spark plug wire and ground the outer metal of the plug against the housing. Crank the engine once or twice to confirm that it is producing a spark. If not you may have other problems to resolve besides replacing or cleaning the spark plug.