How to clean lawn mower carburetor

If you are a lawnmower owner, I think you might have heard many mower-related technical problems from your neighbors or mower owners. Like, “How to clean a carburetor on a lawnmower without removing it?”

I mention it because many lawnmower owners ask me the same question. I have faced the same problem, then I clean it myself. 

So in this article, I will share my cleaning working process step by step. If you face the same problem stay with me and read my full article. I hope you will get the right answer, inshallah.

Before the carburetor cleaning process you must know about it;

Q: Why carburetor stop working?

A: The lawnmower stops working when it’s blocked. Most times it is infected by various types of dust and dirt elements then it is blocked. The blockages first start on the gasoline line flow, and after some time the oil flow is blocked. Then the oil can not reach the carburetor. Then the engine won’t be running, so the carburetor stops working.

Q: Now, can you clean a carburetor without removing it?

A: “Of course, I can clean it.”

With my answer, I’m showing you one by one process so that you can easily clean your carburetor without any trouble and make your lawnmower more durable.

To start this cleaning process you must require two tools; e.g. Spray cleaner, screwdriver, one solid wood, and a lawnmower maintenance kit.

The spray cleaner is used for cleaning carburetor dust and dirt, and the tools are used for opening the carburetor cover, opening and closing the air filter/oil filter, and other parts. With these helping tools, let’s start the cleaning process of the carburetor, here are the 5 steps for cleaning:

Examine the situation and see it properly

Honestly, If you think your mower carburetor needs cleaning and you do it without any checking. So I can surely say that your lawnmower is 100% in danger. Because before the cleaning you just need to examine your mower situation. Why has your mower stopped working? Your first step is to find out the exact reason. 

If you suspect this problem has come out from the carburetor. So follow my steps. I have a Craftsman self-propelled mower and I clean the carburetor in 5 steps; 

• Squeeze the clamp from the end of the hose on the side of the Craftsman mower fuel tank and connect it to the carburetor. Slide the clamp off the hose so you can effortlessly pull the hose off the carburetor nozzle.
• Use a wrench of the appropriate size to unscrew the bolts on the base of the carburetor. Take out the bolt and pull out the carburetor oil tank.
• Push down the carburetor float and spray the area over the float with lubricant spray. Cleaning the float with a cloth.
• Spray the fuel tank with lubricant cleaner, and then clean it with a cloth.
• Spray the carburetor purifier into the tank, above the drift, and into the nozzle in which the gas hose turned into linked. Relinked the gasoline tank to the base of the carburetor. Push the gas hose again onto the side carburetor intake nozzle. 

Finally, after the complete cleaning checks, it once then set up.

FAQ

Can you spray carb cleaner in the air intake?

If you spray carb cleaner in your air intake and will run higher, principally seemingly it might be dirty throttle bodies. solely factor after you spray the carb cleaner into the air intake, most of the things will not build it to your throttle bodies if any. you would like to spray it onto the TBs.

Ethanol gas treatment for lawnmowers?

The major issue with ethanol fuel is that it exploitation water from the atmosphere. Even gasoline with a small amount of ethanol, like an E10 can exploit up to 50% more water (H20) from the environment than gasoline. 

So what’s the issue with water in your fuel tank? Generally, when a small amount of the water is near the fuel saturation point, then it divides the fuel into 2 parts; one part is thick and the other thin. The thick part holds the gas and a small amount of ethanol and the other thin parts hold water with ethanol. Even a small amount of water will reason for this division. Even the updated technology fuel system can divide the water.

Ethanol fuel is erosive, It can harm the fuel system’s plastic elements like diaphragms, hoses, and seals. Alcohol is a corrosive liquid that can actually remove deposits from the engine. When you see it, you can think it’s good for your mower engine. But actually, it’s the bad side. Most of the older fuel systems are not built to cope with alcohol in the fuel. This means that if you have an older or aged lawnmower that was actually manufactured in the 1990s, it’s even more difficult to maintain when using E10 fuel.

Don’t forget that ethanol fuel can harmful to other engines too; such as cars, mowers boats, bikes,s, etc. Actually, ethanol-based fuel system engine is used less, and for this reason, they can affect easily the problem. Ethanol fuel issues tend to be exacerbated the longer the fuel sits around without use. If it sits without using any fuel, its problem will continue to grow. So you continue using these types of engines so then you can easily maintain your mower engine. But the condition is that you need to run this type of engine continuously when you take a break for a long time; I mention the Winter Season. When you need to store your mower for this winter for 3 months. After the winter season when you unbox the mower, it will show a lot of problems.

E15 means the ethanol is present with 15% alcohol in the fuel. 

Is Ethanol harmful to the lawnmower?

Yes, because most of the engines are not built for using Ethanol fuel. Only a few are made of ethanol, but most of them are from the old generation. E15 fuel should be utilized only in smooth vehicles like old-generation trucks, buses, etc.

Is ethanol harmful to small engines?

Yes, ethanol is harmful to a small engine. Because Ethanol fuel will exploit water from the environment and hold it in a layer. 

Ethanol is particularly harder on a small engine carburetor. That means when ethanol enters the engine’s carburetor it not flowing easily like other fuel. After some use, the carburetor gets some cracks on the plate and slowly loses its workability. 

Conclusions

Most homeowners are not interested in buying at first, but here is the real truth: your mower carburetor cleaning procedure is unfinished without this last point. Why?, Cause when you are so busy cleaning the carburetor, then you may open or disconnect some wires that are major for your engines working. Carburetors are the major part of the mower, and there are many wires for different working purposes. But it is so difficult to understand which wire is for which part. For this technical situation; most of the mower owners take the wrong turn.

For these reasons, utilize a flashlight to check and review if you’ve adjusted all parts and wires correctly. When your work is completed, start the engine and listen to the engine sound. If the sound is smooth, congratulations.