Over time, a lawnmower’s carburetor often becomes covered in sludge or small bits of lawn debris. Initially, I didn’t understand why this happened.
Since, I inherited my old mower, I didn’t understand some common rules. When my carburetor started having issues, I had to learn the lesson.
The issue interfered with my device’s role of mixing fuel and air within the mower’s internal combustion engine. Can you clean the lawn mower carburetor without removing it?
Here is what I want you know about cleaning your carburetor:
Applying a small amount of carburetor aerosol spray directly to the device is enough to clean it and improve its function. Carburetors should be cleaned as part of your annual lawnmower maintenance schedule to improve fuel efficiency and increase the machine’s lifespan.
How to Clean Your Carburetor
- Turn off the lawnmower and allow the engine to cool before attempting to clean the carburetor.
- Remove the air filter cover on the side of the machine using a screwdriver to expose the carburetor. Remove the air filter, as well as the carburetor’s exterior cover and linkage to expose the inside of the carburetor.
- Wait until the carburetor dries then start the engine.
- Position the tip of the aerosol can into the center of the carburetor and spray it directly into the running carburetor. Doing this while the carburetor is running allows the cleaner to penetrate inside and clean the carburetor’s throat and remove deposits that exist in the lower throttle plate.
- Spray the cleaner on the choke shaft at the base of the carburetor’s throat to remove any additional grime after shutting off the engine.
- Replace the carburetor cover and linkage, push the air filter back in place and screw the air filter cover back in place.
When and how to clean a lawn mower carburetor?
Few pieces of home maintenance equipment work as hard as your lawnmower. Despite its rough-and-tumble life, many lawnmowers don’t get the care and attention they need.
Maintaining your lawnmower carburetor requires only a few easy steps.
This is especially true when it comes to the lawnmower’s carburetor. Your lawnmower’s carburetor is a critical component for functionality and will be the thing that determines whether your lawnmower works for years or conks out early.
With that in mind, learning to clean your lawn mower carburetor is a critical part of preventative maintenance. Here’s what you need to know.
When to inspect and clean your lawnmower carburetor?
While the exact recommendations for this vary from household to household, most experts say you should check and clean a lawnmower carburetor at least a few times a year.
The reason for this is simple: as you use your lawnmower, the grass, twigs, and debris the blade kicks up to make their way into the small engine. Some of that debris eventually wind up inside of the carburetor – clogging fuel and air passages and reducing the performance of the mower’s engine.
Steps to clean a carburetor
Here are four steps to follow to clean your carburetor quickly and easily:
Start by checking your air filter
The first step in cleaning the carburetor is to check the air filter to ensure it’s free of debris. A clogged air filter will create black smoke that spills from the exhaust. It will also make it difficult for your carburetor to get the air it needs to “breathe.”
Check all connections
Next, it’s time to check the connections that run from a carburetor’s throttle and choke plates, since these things can stick when they get dirty.
Additionally, constant vibration and wear can loosen screws over time, contributing to strange handling and additional carb issues.
Use carburetor cleaner
Next, it’s time to pick up a carburetor cleaner to eliminate the deposits within the carburetor, which can clog both air and fuel passages and interrupt the performance.
Lawn mower carburetor cleaner makes the task of lawn mower carburetor maintenance quite easy.
Fortunately, you can generally do this without even taking the carburetor out of the engine. Start by purchasing some commercial lawnmower carburetor cleaner, which comes in a simple spray can, and will make it easy to clean the inside and outside of the carburetor.
After you’ve coated the surfaces of the carburetor with the cleaner, give the lawnmower a look all over for other maintenance issues, like stale fuel, bad air filters, old spark plugs, dirty engine oil, and more.
Check to set
Now it’s time to check the settings on your carburetor to see if anything should be adjusted or updated.
If you’re unsure what you’re looking for, take your carburetor to a local repair service, which will help you identify issues and run your carburetor as efficiently as possible.
This professional will also help you understand why you shouldn’t drain the fuel and how best to care for your lawnmower in the future.
Keep the carburetor clean
A critical piece of your engine’s functionality, the carburetor keeps your lawnmower running strong and functioning well. When you understand how to clean your lawnmower carburetor, you can keep your lawnmower in great shape for years to come, no matter how hard you use it.
FAQs
Can you clean the lawn mower carburetor without removing it?
Fortunately, you can generally do this without even taking the carburetor out of the engine. Start by purchasing some commercial lawnmower carburetor cleaner, which comes in a simple spray can and will make it easy to clean the inside and outside of the carb.
What is the best way to clean a carburetor without taking it apart?
To clean a carburetor without disassembling it, we can simply use a compressed air gun which is sometimes enough if the clogging is not severe. With the help of compressed air and fuel, most of the grease and fuel residues can be removed from the jets. Once done, carefully clean the upper tray and the float as well.
Can you spray carburetor cleaner directly into the carburetor lawn mower?
Position the tip of the aerosol can into the center of the carburetor and spray it directly into the running carburetor.
While the carburetor is running, the cleaner can penetrate inside and clean the carburetor’s throat and remove deposits in the lower throttle plate.