MTD 31AH553G401 manual

IMPOR T ANT : Read saf ety rules and instructions ca refull y befo re operat ing eq uipment. MTD PR ODUCTS IN C. P .O . BO X 368022 CLE VELAND , OHIO 4 4136-9722 Power Steer Drive 28” Snow Th rower Model 31AH553 G401 PRINTED IN U .S.A. Warning: T his unit is equipped with an internal combustion engine and should not be used on or near any unimpro[...]

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Cont ent Page Important Safe O peratio n Prac tices ................. ............. ............. ............. ........... 3 Assemb ling Your Sno w Thrower ............... ............. ............ ............. ............. ..... 5 Know Your S now Thrower ............ ............. ............. ............ ................[...]

3 SECTION 1: IMPORTANT SAFE OPERATION PRACTICES This War ning sym bol points out importa nt safety instructi ons which, if not follo wed, could en danger the perso nal safe ty and/o r prop erty o f you rself and o thers. Read a nd follo w all inst ructio ns in this m anual before at temptin g to operate your snow throwe r. Failure to compl y with t[...]

4 • Take all possible precautions when leavi ng the unit unattended. Disengage the collector/impel ler, shift into neutral, stop the engi ne, and remove the key. • When cleaning, repairing, or inspecting, make certain collector/impeller and all moving parts have stopped. Disconnect spark plug w ire and keep away from plug to prevent ac cidental[...]

5 SECTION 2: ASSEMBLING YOUR SNOW THROWER NOTE: Referenc e to right or left s ide of the sno w thrower in th is man ual is from b ehind th e unit i n the operatin g posit ion. IMPORT ANT : After ass embling, c heck the adjus tments as instruc ted on p age 6 before operating you r snow thrower. Failure to fol low the instr uctions may caus e damage [...]

6 Final Adjustments Auger Drive Clutch • To check the adjustme nt of the auge r drive clutc h, push forwa rd on the left ha nd clutch gri p (depress the rubber bumper) . There shoul d be sla ck in the cable. Se e Figu re 6. • Relea se the clutc h grip. The c able sh ould be straigh t. Make c ertain yo u can dep ress the au ger drive clut ch gri[...]

7 SECTION 3: KNOW YOUR SNOW THROWER Read this owner’ s manual and s afety rule s before op erati ng your sno w throwe r. Compare illustr ation below wi th your sn ow thrower to fa milia rize your self with the l ocation of v arious contro ls and adju stment s. Sav e this manual for future refe renc e. The operat ion of any snow thr ower can res u[...]

8 Traction Drive/Auger Clutch Lock The tractio n drive c lutch i s located on the righ t handle . Squeeze the trac tion drive cl utch to en gage the whe el dri ve. Releas e to stop. This sa me lev er also lo cks th e auger clutch to avoid interrupti on of the snow throwi ng proc ess. If the auger drive clut ch is en gaged wit h the traction dr ive [...]

9 SECTION 4: OPERATING YOUR SNOW THROWER Gas and Oil Fill-up Servi ce the engin e with gaso line and oil as instru cted in the separ ate engin e manual pac ked with your snow throw e r. R ead ins t ruct ions carefu lly. WARNING: Never fill fuel tank indoors, with engine running or while engine is hot. Do not smoke when filling up a fuel tank. Tire [...]

10 IMPORT ANT : Do not lose the i gnition ke y. Engi ne will not start w ithout it. • Discon nect spar k plug wire from the spa rk plug to prevent accidenta l starting whi le equipme nt is unattended . • Wipe all snow and moisture from the car buretor cove r in the area of the control levers . Also, mo ve control lever s back and fort h seve ra[...]

11 SECTION 5: MAKING ADJUSTMENTS WARNING: Never attempt to clean chute or make any adjust ments while en gine is running. T raction Driv e Clutch Refer to the Fina l Adju stment s ection of the Set-Up Instruc tions to adj ust the trac tion dr ive clutc h. To check the a djustm ent, p roceed as fol lows: • With th e snow th rower ti pped forward ([...]

12 SECTION 6: MAINTAINING YOUR SNOW THROWER General Reco mmendations • Always observ e safety ru les when per forming an y maintenan ce. • The warra nty on this snow th rower does not c over items t hat ha ve b een s ubjected to operator abuse or neglig ence. To rec eive full value from the warranty, op erator mus t maint ain the snow thr ower [...]

13 Carburetor WARNING: If any adjustments are made to the engine while the engine is running (e.g. carb uretor) , keep cle ar of all moving parts. Be ca reful of hea ted su rfaces and mufflers. Minor ca rburetor ad justm ents may be r equired to compens ate for differe nces in fuel temp eratu re, altitude and load. Refe r to the engine manual fo r [...]

14 Chec k Fric tion Whe el Follow th e instruc tions below to ch eck the con ditio n of the fri ction wh eel rub ber ev ery 25 hour s of opera tion. • Remove the six self -tapping s crews from the frame cover un derneath th e snow thr ower. See F igure 12. Fig ure 12 • Visual ly insp ect the fr iction whe el rubb er for excess ive wear , cracks[...]

15 SECTION 7: SERVICING YOUR SNOW THROWER WARNING: Disconnect spark plug wire and ground against e ngine before pe rforming any repairs or ma intenance. Augers The augers are secur ed to the sp iral sha ft with two shear bol ts and hex lo ck nuts . See Figu re 13. If you hi t a foreign ob ject or ic e jam, the snow thr ower is so designed that the [...]

16 WARNING: Do not attempt to change the auger be lt without the help of an assi stant. It is very important that one person, standing at the operating position, firmly hold the snow thrower housing to prevent it from tipping while the other person replace s the belt. Failur e to comply with this may result in injury. Fig ure 16 • Standin g in th[...]

17 • Reinsta ll the belt co ver on the front of the eng ine with the two sel f-tappin g screws and fl at washers . Refer to Figure 15 . NOTE: Make sure t hat the auger cable i s routed in fr ont of t he bel t. Drive Belt • Drain the gasoline from the snow thro wer, or place a piece of pla stic unde r the gas cap. • Remove the plastic belt c o[...]

18 rubber fr om b etween the fri ction w heel plate. • Reasse mble new fri ction wheel rubber to the frictio n wheel a ssembly , tighteni ng the si x screws i n rotation and with equ al force. It is im porta nt to assembl e the rub ber on the frict ion whee l symmetr ically for prope r function ing. • Insert the pin fro m the shift ar m assembl[...]

19 SECTION 9: TROUBLE SHOOTING GUIDE NOTE: For rep airs beyond the minor adjus tments l isted a bove, plea se cont act yo ur l ocal au thori zed se rvice deale r. T r ouble P ossi ble Cause(s) Corrective Actio n Engine fails to start 1. Fuel tank empty, or stale fuel. 2. Blocked fuel line. 3. Choke not in the ON position 4. Faulty spark plug. 5. Sa[...]

20 SECTION 10: PARTS LIST FOR MODEL 553 1 2 3 5 4 6 6 6 22 22 22 6 37 36 38 34 22 13 28 21 26 11 32 8 28 21 15 31 6 6 22 22 22 24 12 19 35 7 10 23 16 10 23 9 14 17 30 20 25 18 27 13 18 18 13 18 13 13 18 29 39 40 33 42 52 46 47 50 49 54 51 48 56 41 43 55 45 53 43 33 44 57[...]

21 Ref. No. Pa r t No. Description 1. 05931 Beari ng Housin g 2. 684- 0065 Impell er Assy. 12 ” dia. 3. 705-522 6 Chute Reinforcem ent 4. 710-0 451 Carr iag e Bo lt 5/ 16-1 8 x .75 ” Gr. 2 5. 710- 0459A Hex Scre w 3/8-24 x 1.5 ” Gr.5 6. 710-060 4 Hex Washer H ead Self-Ta pping Screw 5/1 6-18 x .62 ” 7. 710- 0703 Carria ge Screw 1/4-20 x .75[...]

22 Model 553 7 27 15 28 Dri ve Clutc h Cable rout ed belo w axle and hook ed here 44 29 23 8 11 11 36 47 11 50 52 11 3 33 37 33 37 10 9 13 1 34 26 31 30 16 9 43 17 34 46 34 18 19 6 39 18 24 40 34 32 14 20 32 35 38 45 40 34 32 38 32 20 14 9 48 5 7 49 36 47 36 47 11 41 42 11 9 43 16 30 9 51 13 9 26 34 4 25 7 54 55 57 53 21 14 22 21 14 22 21[...]

23 Model 553 Ref. No. P ar t No. Description 1. 618- 0043 Dogg As sembly : RH 2. 618- 0044 Dogg As sembly : LH 3. 618-030 3B Shift Assem bly: St eerable Dr ive 4. 656- 0012A Fri c tion Wh eel Disc Assy. 5. 684-001 4B Shift Rod Assembly 6. 684-004 2B Bearing 7. 684-0 130 Tran smis si on Fr ame A ssem bly 8. 684-013 1A Support Brack et Assem bly 9. 7[...]

24 Model 553 11 3 4 17 8 1 18 3 26 20 25 14 2 22 9 6 12 16 23 21 23 21 23 13 15 5 24 19 7 10 Ref . No. P art No. Des cri ption 1. 05896A Idler B rac ket 2. 710-0230 He x Bolt 1/4-28 x 0.5 ” Gr .5 3. 710-0627 He x Screw w/ P atch : 5/16-2 4 x 0.75 ” 4. 710-0654A He x W asher HeadT T Sems Scre w 5. 710-0696 He x Bolt 3/8-24 x .87 5 ” Gr .8 6. 7[...]

25 Model 553 14 10 2 14 12 16 3 20 5 5 56 64 31 45 9 51 40 46 47 58 66 61 60 62 66 58 63 67 65 57 58 57 58 55 53 59 54 29 5 8 13 17 11 22 5 21 18 4 1 11 15 19 52 7 14 9 6 49 42 27 36 Fo r reference only 44 30 28 32 44 48 10 23 38 35 35 39 9 43 26 25 31 40 41 9 50 24 37 Fo r ref e rence only[...]

26 Model 553 Ref. No. P art N o. Descrip tion 1. 684-000 8A Shift Arm As sembly 2. 710-026 2 Carriage Bolt 5 /16-18 x 1.5 ” 3. 710-044 9 Carriage Bolt 5 /16-18 x 2.25 ” 4. 710-078 8 TT Screw 1/4-20 x 1 ” 5. 710-083 7 Oval C-S k. Screw AB #1 0-16 x 0.625 ” 6. 710-0 890 A Shea r Bol t 5/16 -1 8 x 1.5 ” 7. 710- 3008 Hex Sc rew 5/16 -18 x .75[...]

27 Model 553: Label P art Numbers[...]

MANUF A CTUR ER ’ S LIMITED W ARRANTY FOR: The l imit ed wa rrant y set fort h be low is given by MTD PRODUCTS INC ( “ MTD ” ) with respe ct to new m erchandi se purchase d and used in the United Stat es, its possessions and ter ritories. MTD war rants this prod uct agains t defec ts in material and workman ship f or a period of two (2) y ear[...]