Yours being a 1650 it has the powered lift setup on it, right? As I remember it was "standard" on 1450/1650 and "optional" on the 1250's. (I forget whether it is hydro or electric power at the moment but I don't know that "that" is all that important right now)
My 1250 has the powered lift.
You may be able to answer a question for me, even though you are having issues with the lift.
When I got my QA42A, the PO had it on a 1100 version of our machines (11HP Briggs, gear drive but still a Quietline) and he had said that everything was supposed to be there except the "lift link". he had said something about having somehow rigged a length of chain/ I assume to his lift lever (but I didn't get that with the blower)
Apparently you got this piece with your unit, what's it look like, and can you provide some dimensions? As in, does it look like something that could be home made and still work OK, or do I have to go searching for an OEM part? (to work "right," that is)
At the moment my machine is sitting behind the house collecting dust and of course leaves too, as I finish insulating and sheating my garage with OSB, and also finish the gas line to the Modine unit heater that I have had hung from the ceiling for too long now as another dust collector/// so that I actually have heat out there to work in this winter.... my garage is worse of a mess than it has ever been with everything pulled out from the walls to center. which is saying a lot for me, because my garage never is that clean and organized for very long anyway... it's real bad at the moment....
but what that means is that I have not even really looked at my 1250 since a couple days after bringing it here... who knows, I may well be able to figure it out if I could get some time to work on it.... which has to happen before snow hits.
(back to regularly scheduled post)
