[AT] Lawn mower carburetors are a piece of cake..... Wrong

[Cecil Bearden]

Just FYI  If you need small engine parts here is a site I use a lot

https://www.everestpartssupplies.com/

...Cecil



On 6/6/2021 6:28 AM, John Hall wrote:
> Welcome to modern small engines--sometimes you just can't fix them.
>
> My mother-in-laws 2 year old Briggs push mower wouldn't crank on its 
> own. I replaced the primer bulb--that's about all you can do to it. 
> Spray some starting fluid in it and it cranks and runs fine. 
> Replacement carbs are aftermarket and cheap, but I don't really trust 
> them. Some online research indicates some guys use 2 mounting gaskets, 
> wonder if there is an air leak due to warped plastic parts?  I may try 
> this, otherwise its headed to the dump as none of us need a push mower.
>
> Got a 25 year old weed trimmer that I've had the carb apart 5-6 times. 
> About ready to buy a cheap replacement carb (thats all you can get). 
> I've replaced all the usual suspects, cleaned the carb as best as I 
> can , used OEM parts.
> What happens now is it will try to run with the choke completely on 
> until it completely floods the crankase. Long story short the trimmer 
> was given to me by a mechanic that told the owner it needed a new carb 
> years ago. Its a high hour machine but has good compression, and has 
> not been abused---just used a LOT. I did find the ignition kill wire 
> would shock you--so that has now been disconnected as I'm sure that 
> wasn't helping. This has really turned into pure stubborness to make 
> this thing run again.
>
> I did manage to tear apart my hedge trimmer carb and get out all the 
> debris from the primer bulb (it was literally coming apart, never seen 
> that before) and it now runs better than it has in a couple years.
>
>
> So 1 for 3--if this was baseball not a bad batting average!!!!
>
> John Hall
>
> On 6/5/2021 8:38 PM, Dean VP wrote:
>> You ATIS members need a good laugh once in a while.  This should help 
>> provide that at my expense. ,
>>
>> One of my Grandsons just purchased his first house which has a small 
>> grass lawn with it.  Small enough lawn a self-propelled 20 - 22" push 
>> mower would be just fine.  Since he is moving out of an apartment he 
>> would need to buy a mower.   I volunteered to give him one of mine 
>> that I have out in the barn that haven't been run for a while. Don't 
>> even remember now when or where I got this one, it was probably cheap 
>> at some garage sale or auction and is a Toro Model 20216.  Probably 
>> 20" to 22" (haven't measured) deck with a 4HP Briggs motor and it can 
>> be self-propelled with 3 forward gears .Everything worked fine on it 
>> when I used it last probably several years ago (ran when parked)  and 
>> my only two complaints about it were the 4HP made it underpowered and 
>> the aluminum deck was pretty brittle  and has been welded once. I 
>> have been blessed with a wealth of rocks on  my yard.   I noticed the 
>> deck now has a couple more cracks but the mower is useable as is all 
>> I have to do is get it running.
>>
>> I cleaned everything up, cleaned the spark plug, changed oil and put 
>> in new gas.  I don't have a manual for the mower and the only way I 
>> could figure out how to get the old oil out was to either pump it out 
>> or lay it on its side and drain it out the fill tube. . Very dumb and 
>> very owner unfriendly. . Anyway tried to start it.    Not even a pop. 
>> Choke full on.   Tried ether. Yep, I could get it to run for a second 
>> or two but obviously not getting gas to the cylinder. Check gas line, 
>> check bowl, yep getting gas to the carburetor.  Sum Ting Wong with 
>> the carburetor.
>>
>> Now mistakenly I think I know what I'm doing relative to carburetors 
>> with several successful Antique Tractor and Garden Tractor carburetor 
>> rebuilds  under my belt but it has been a long time since I have 
>> worked on a Lawn Mower Carburetor.   But needing to be humbled a bit 
>> I guess I have forgotten a key detail about Briggs carburetor's. I 
>> pulled the carb, removed the bowl and found a sandy white substance 
>> (dirt?) in the bowl and also in the needle and seat well.  Not 
>> typical of what I have seen in carbs in the past. But continue to 
>> disassemble removing the float and needle. Don't see a removable seat 
>> and disassemble the rest of the carb.  Run small wires through any 
>> opening I can find and make sure they are clean and blow air through 
>> any passage I can find.  One thing that happened worried me. I had 
>> the air hose nozzle on the gas intake pipe and a little pop occurred 
>> and something hit me in the face. My observation was that it had come 
>> out of the bottom where the needle seats.. Hmmmm .............must 
>> have been plugged right there. 😊 Couldn't find what came out. I bet 
>> the carburetor will work now.  Operator now in full idiot mode!😊
>>
>> Moving on, soaked the carburetor in Pine Sol overnight and this 
>> morning cleaned it with fresh water.  Carburetor looks like new.  
>> Man.... I am really good.     Hmm, the bowl gasket has expanded in 
>> diameter in the pine sol. That is not good. But start reassembling 
>> the carburetor and put the float and needle in place  and it is 
>> obvious the needle is dropping too far down and not seating 
>> properly.   Aha, that is what must have blown out and hit me in the 
>> face. Hummmmm  how do you blow out a brass seat?  Now I'm confused.  
>> Get on the internet and watch a video of an overhaul of this type of 
>> lawn mower carburetor.  Gets to the part about removing the needle 
>> and seat. " An easy way to get the little rubber needle seat out is 
>> to blow air into the gas inlet of the carburetor"    Been there, done 
>> that.   Yep, I can completely verify that works very well but I 
>> didn't know it when I did it. @#$%^&*()   Now I sure as hell know 
>> what hit me in  the face. I can't find that little sucker.  So... $9 
>> gets me a carburetor overhaul kit over night from Amazon.   Needed a 
>> new bowl gasket too.  Isn't it amazing how the problem and solution 
>> can hit you right in the face???
>>
>> In searching for the right carburetor kit  I noticed I could buy a 
>> whole new carburetor for $10.49. But I have been down that road 
>> before and I was not pleased with what I received. So I'm staying 
>> with the OEM Carburetor.  One day delivery on the parts.
>>
>> BTW, I'm not very sure this mower is even worth the $9 carburetor 
>> repair kit. But....  I am going to  beat this sucker into 
>> submission.  This is the way us old folks turn one hour jobs into a 
>> full day's entertainment.
>>
>>
>> Dean V
>> Snohomish, WA 98290
>> "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and 
>> gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
>> ..Winston Churchill...
>>
>>
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