how to clean a lawn mower carburetor

How To Clean A Lawn Mower Carburetor

Your lawnmower was working just fine the last time you checked it. But suddenly when you take it out one day to see that it is not working anymore. It might have turned on and turned off very quickly or not started at all.

This might have been caused by various issues including fuel leakage, old fuel, or a wasted spark plug. Most of the time, the carburetor is the culprit behind the malfunctioning of your lawnmower. A blocked or corroded carburetor can render your lawnmower useless.

But the good news is that carburetors are not that hard to fix. You can fix it in your home within an hour. But most people don’t want to lay their inexperience hand on or around the engine part of the lawnmower where the carburetor resides. So they take their lawnmower to repair shops to clean and repair their carburetor.

how to clean a lawn mower carburetor

How to clean a lawn mower carburetor?

Well, it’s no rocket science to be too afraid. We are going to teach you how to clean a lawn mower carburetor at home. You can easily repair your malfunctioning lawn mower carburetor by following these steps:

1. Precaution

Before getting into work, we have to take absolute safety measures to prevent any catastrophic accidents. Make sure to wear safety goggles, gloves, and mask beforehand. When you are working on cleaning the carburetor, you have to go past the air filter, air duct, fuel line and etc. There might be toxic or noxious substances present in these areas. So wearing safety gloves and a mask will help by saving a lot of discomforts.

Also, attempt to repair your lawn mower only on open areas or areas with proper ventilation. The noxious fuel gas can have an unpleasant effect on your nose. So having proper ventilation will prove to be helpful.

2. Finding Out The Problem

As we have seen before, a lawnmower can malfunction for multiple reasons. It could be fuel leakage, lack of fuel, blockage in the fuel line or air duct, etc. So make sure to check where the problem lies and don’t jump to conclusions without proper investigation.

Check out the air duct that delivers air to the carburetor and air filter too. If there is any debris, clear them out and check whether the lawnmower starts now. Also, check whether you have enough fuel in the gas tank.

If all the things are in the right shape and the lawnmower is still not working, use carburetor cleaner in the carburetor and try to start it. If it starts even a little better than the last time, we can be sure that the problem lies in the carburetor. We can proceed to the next step of cleaning the carburetor.

3. Dismantling

Each lawn mower is made different so it is impossible to give accurate instructions on dismantling your equipment. However in general, just remove some screws and bolts in the outer casing. You can now take off the outer casing and can see the inner parts of the lawnmower.

Now, remove the fuel tank carefully. Make sure to remove the slowly because there might be pressurized gas trapped inside it. So apply some pressure on the gas tube and remove it slowly. Then proceed on to unbolt the air duct and air filter and remove the too.

Note: Take a picture after removing each part. This will largely help you when you start to reassemble these parts.

4. Remove The Carburetor

We have to remove the carburetor to have a clear look on the inside. So, unbolt the carburetor from the mainframe. Sometimes it may be bolted to the out part of the engine. Most carburetors are bolted with 13mm bolts, however, they can vary.

The carburetor will have a fuel line running through it to transfer fuel to the engine. You have to remove the fuel line attached to the carburetor. When you remove it, there will be some stagnant fuel spilling. So, have a rag cloth to wipe it off. If you see no fuel spillage, the problem might be because of some blockage in the fuel line and not the carburetor.

5. Cleaning The Carburetor

We have come to the ultimatum of the process. The carburetor bowl is or the carburetor itself is held together in a single place by only one nut. If you unbolt that specific bolt, the carburetor will fall off as two individual bowls.

The carburetor receives the fuel from the fuel tank and air from the air filter via the air duct. Then, it will mix both of them in the right proportion and send it to the engine’s combustion chamber. There are three kinds of possible problems, which are:

  1. Blockage in the air duct to the carburetor
  2. Blockage in the fuel line to the carburetor
  3. Blockage in the carburetor to the engine line

These can happen due to any number of reasons such as spoiled air filters or leaving your lawnmower without using them for a long period can cause fuel to block the passage line.

how to clean a lawn mower carburetor

Now, look for any debris or grass particles in the carburetor, if any remove them with a pair of pliers. Apply some carburetor cleansing liquid into it and wash it off. If the carburetor is still dirty or has clusters of debris in it, you should rather replace it than clean it.

6. Final Step

When you remove the bolt of the carburetor, you can see a pin attached to it. Remove it and replace it with a new one. It might cost only a few cents in the market. Now, apply some carburetor cleaning liquid to the carburetor and let it dry for a few minutes. After 5-10 mins wipe it off with a rag but clean piece of cloth.

Now, join the carburetor bowls and bolt them together. And screw the whole carburetor back to its original place. And fix back the fuel pipeline and air duct to the carburetor. If you have taken a picture every time you dismantled its parts, it would’ve been easy when you assemble it.

Now, your lawnmower is fresh as new and can be instantly put to work to maintain a smooth-looking garden.