How To Clean Lawn Mower Carburetor in Under 5 Minute

Just Imagine, you get up one afternoon to mow your lawn, but you find out that the lawn mower you have, has stopped working or maybe it’s not that much upbeat. Then, what would you do? First of all, you need to check what is the exact problem. If you have these symptoms like: No power, won’t start, or rough idle. Then it surely is the carburetor of the mower that needs repair.

This guide will help you to know how to clean lawn mower carburetor.

Like every other thing, your lawn mower carburetor also needs maintenance. Over the period of time, due to excessive use, it may require some repair or maybe cleaning.

The factors that lead to the inefficiency of the carburetor are:

Fuel sledging or stale oil/gas

accumulation of dirt

dust or grass debris in the carburetor, etc.

Now, the talk is all about how to get rid of these problems? You don’t have to worry about it because you are at the right place to get informed about the solution. If you are not mechanically inclined and spend a lot of money on lawn mower repair shop for just a simple tune-up of the carburetor. By following these easy steps you can clean your mower carburetor at home.

There are mostly two places where the carburetor gets clogged: usually in the small engine in the jet and the needle and the seat that will end up with gunk, grime, varnish, and different types of trash. It happens when you let the carburetor stand with bad gas for a longer time, so the needle stick and the jet gum up, and then you have no fuel flow and run up which leads to the stopping of the mower.

How to clean lawn mower carburetor?

Despite the type of the carburetor, these are some simple steps that will help you to clean your carburetor and to save your repair bill:

1. Safety:

While doing the mower carburetor cleaning, there should be adequate ventilation because your safety should be prior to anything else. The gas leakage, stale smell of the gas, and the carburetor cleaners you are going to use are really hazardous and should not be inhaled otherwise they can cause severe damage.

So, Windows, fans, or any other source of air is a necessity for doing this process. If you are working in a garage, make sure that all the doors and windows are open and there is a good flow of air.

2. Remove the fuel tank:

There are many types of engines for different types of lawn mowers. So, before doing the cleaning process, you have to remove the air filter and all the other casing. While in this case you just have to remove the fuel tank first.

The fuel tank can be removed by just sliding it out and taking off the tabs that hold up the tank in place especially the clamp with the help of pair of pliers. If the clamp is in a good position, you just move it to the other side, but if it needs replacement, just cut it off. Then take needle nose pliers and pull it behind the fuel by just popping it off. If you try to squeeze it, you can damage the fitting. So, you need to be careful with that.

In this way, the fuel tank is separated from the engine. The gas inside the tank should be drained because there are chances that dirt is coming from the tank so, you should not re-use that fuel.

3. Usage of Carburetor cleaner:

In this step, you need to apply some of the carburetor cleaner on a rag and apply it onto the bowl so, that when you take off the bowl the dirt does not fall inside the carburetor. There are a number of Best carburetor cleaner sprays available out there for you to choose one for you very easily. You can also have complete carburetor cleaning kits which include sprays, brushes, screwdrivers, etc.

4. Unscrew the jet:

First of all, put a cloth or rag under the bowl to avoid the spread of gas everywhere. Then simply unscrew the jet which is also the main jet and the gas starts spilling off. This gas may have a bad smell and yellowish color because it got stale. Loose the jet with the help of a ranch and when it is loose enough, simply grab it in your hand and unscrew it until it comes off.

5. Cleaning of the Jet:

The most common failure is that this main jet/ bull jet gets clogged with little pieces of debris which would be green in color and there are pieces of old gasket that get in the form of small flakes and block the holes. You just simply have to get that old gasket off the bull jet with the help of a small blade and make sure that it is completely clean.

Then, take a small wire and poke it out of the hole to make sure that it is clean. It is imperative to keep that hole free from any blockage. You can also run the wire through the main hole in the middle to get it clean.

Spray a little Carburetor cleaner on the jack on and on to make sure that it is completely clean.

If you don’t have the carburetor cleaner, you can simply use brush the dust away. Once you made it sure that the jet is clean, set it aside.

6. Take off the bowl:

Once the jet is out, it is very easy to take off the bowl as it is only held on by the jet. Sometimes it gets stuck because of the clogging. If the bowl is in good condition, clean the debris away with the help of Carburetor cleaner spray. But if it is completely out of work, you need to replace it.

Make sure that the float is moving freely. It can be checked if the float makes the clicking sound by moving it freely, then it is perfect to go, and the needle is sealing on the seat.
Then remove the gasket that is present over the float with the help of a screwdriver or a pick.

And this is how you clean the carburetor.

7. Re-assemblage:

Blow some high compressed air to brush off the dust and pull on a new ring on the carburetor. First, Get the back on and then make way to the front and make sure that it is all on the back and cover the front properly.

Now place the shallow end of the bowl where the hinge pin is and get the jet bolt back it and tighten it with the help of the ranch.

Then, put back the fuel tank but with the new gas in the tank.
Now your carburetor is clean, and your mower is good as new.