How to Clean a Carburetor on a Lawn Mower without Removing it?

Last Updated on October 18, 2024 by John Patterson

How to clean a carburetor on a lawn mower without removing it is a common question if you are a lawn mower user.

The lawn mower carburetor is one of the key parts as far as the engine of a lawn mower is concerned.

While this part is in a troublesome situation, the whole purpose of a lawn mower gets stuck.

So, lawn mower users have to keep a sharp eye to maintain a clean and functioning lawn mower carburetor.

In case you’re interested in performing the task without removing the carburetor itself, this article is written for you.

What Makes A Carburator to Stop Working?

Carburetors are likely to be affected by various blockages if you keep them idle for a long time.

Even during regular use on the field, this trouble can happen to lawn mower carburetors.

The types of dirt that take place within the lawn mower carburetor are mainly dirt, gasoline deposits, oil deposits, varnishes, etc.

Apart from these, there is a definite factor of lawn mower carburetor lifetime.

However, right after you have realized that your carburetor in the mower needs to be cleaned, go through the following steps-

Can You Clean the carburetor on A Mower Without Removing It?

The one-word answer to the question is- Yes, you can clean without removing the carburetor.

But some conditions imply cleaning a lawn mower carburetor without removing it.

If the lawn mower carburetor is old enough not to produce a consistent service in a clean condition, you should rather remove and replace it with a new one.

In case your carburetor is not old enough, except for some gunk and dirt buildup, you can go through the next steps.

How to clean a carburetor on a lawn mower without removing it: step-by-step

What Tools Do You Need?

You need to have two kinds of tools in this case.

One is the Aerosol spray carburetor cleaner, and another is the lawn mower maintenance kit.

The aerosol spray is going to be our cleaning agent.

The kit box will contain all the essential tools like screwdrivers to open and close the air filter, carburetor cover, carburetor linkage, etc.

Once you have got both carburetor cleaner and lawn mower maintenance kit in hand, let’s proceed to the next steps.

Step #1: Assess the Situation

First thing first, make sure that you are 100% certain about cleaning the carburetor up.

We mean, if the mower engine stops working, the carburetor can be one of the suspects.

Unless you make it 100% certain, your whole lawn mower carburetor cleaning effort can go in vain.

Take a short burst of aerosol lubricant and apply it to the lawnmower’s carburetor.

You can also use any cleaner that is specified for the use of carburetors.

Now, try to start the mower properly.

If it starts with no problem, then the source of the problem is something else than the carburetor.

If it doesn’t start yet, move to the next step.

Step #2: Expose the Insider Part of the Carburetor

At first, place, turn off the mower, and let it cool down for a while.

Once done, open up the cover of the air filter with the help of a screwdriver.

This will expose the carburetor to you.

Now, remove the lawn mower carburetor exterior cover and the linkage as well.

This will expose the insider parts of the carburetor itself.

Keeping it in that condition, the carburetor will dry up within a short time.

Wait until then, and start the engine now.

Step #3: Spray the Aerosol Cleaner

As we’ve said before, you need to have a good quality carburetor cleaner aerosol spray.

And this is the step where we are going to use it on the carburetor.

Place the tip of the aerosol spray into the center of the carburetor, and spray it onto the carburetor.

Make sure that your mower engine and the carburetor are running while you’re going through this step.

Make sure that the spray penetrates throughout the whole lawn mower carburetor throat.

Step #4: Remove the Deposits

There will be oil and dirt deposits at the lower throttle plate of the carburetor.

Remove that with care.

Now, spray the aerosol on the choke shaft which is located at the base of the carburetor throat.

Make sure that the engine is shut off while you’re applying this spray on the choke shaft.

Step #5: Replace the Carburetor Cover and Linkage

We are pretending in today’s concern that, we won’t remove or replace the carburetor itself.

But for optimal performance, you need to replace the lawn mower carburetor cover and the linkage.

Right after replacing the old cover and linkage, the air filter is back in its place.

Use a screw to tighten the air filter.

How Do I Know If My Carburetor Is Bad?

Here are certain indicators of a bad carburetor:

• Reduced Performance

People usually understand if the carburetor is in good condition or not from the performance of the car. A bad carburetor will surely lead to reduced performance in your car.

• Overheating

A bad carburetor will often lead to overheating.

• Not Starting

Not starting or hard starting is one of the major indicators of a bad carburetor.

• Black Smoke

Having a bad carburetor can result in black smoke coming out of the exhaust.

• Running Rich

Running rich refers to having more fuel and less air in the engine, and a bad carburetor can create this situation.

Can You Clean Carburetor Without Removing?

Yes, you can clean the carburetor without having to remove it. Follow this procedure for doing that:

To do this, you’ll have to cover the upper part of the casing situated right under the carburetor to clean any fuel remaining. Drain and then remove the float bowls, and then remove the float that’s usually held by small pins.

Then, you need to look for the jets under the carburetor. Once you find them, dry clean them with carb cleaner properly. Leave it to soak for a bit, and then blow through the jets using an airline.

Finally, put everything back on, refuel your vehicle, and start it up.

How Do You Deep Clean A Carburetor?

Here’s how you deep clean a carburetor:

• You need to start with mixing the cleaner. Try to dilute the cleaner by keeping the cleaner-to-water ratio to 1:3.
• Before proceeding, we strongly advise you to clean the air filter.
• Remove the carburetor. Make sure there’s no linkage left while doing so.
• Remove the float.
• Submerge the float and the other removable components in a cleaning solution that you’ve mixed before and leave them to soak.
• Brush all the soaked components.
• Rinse them to get rid of the dirt completely and leave them to dry.
• Put the parts back together. We recommend replacing any old part that looks rusty.

What Can I Use Instead Of Carburetor Cleaner?

Most of the carburetor cleaners that you’ll find out there offer a solution of lacquer thinner and Acetone. This is why there are a lot of substitutes for carb cleaners.

For example, a lot of people reported using brake cleaners. Some reported great results after using Acetone directly. You can also use chemicals like Naptha.

What Is The Best Thing To Clean A Carburetor With?

Although you can use a range of chemicals to clean carburetors, we highly recommend using cleaners that are specially manufactured for this purpose.

While the basic components of the chemicals might be the same, there are subtle differences that can play a crucial role. You can find cleaners in chlorinated, non-chlorinated, aerosol, and dipping can variants. All of these are great, and it’s recommended to choose the one that suits you most.

As for the top brands, we recommend Gumot, Berryman, and Gunk mainly. If you don’t find these around you, then taking any other brand will serve you just fine too.

Can you use wd40 to clean carburetor?

Many people are familiar with WD-40 as a household lubricant, but did you know it has many other uses?

It can be used to clean and polish metal surfaces like chrome and copper.

WD-40 is also great for getting rid of rust stains on clothing, cutting through stubborn grease or oil residue on the stovetop, removing gum from clothes (a cotton ball soaked in WD-40 will do the trick), and more!

We’re going to talk about the best ways you can clean your carburetor. Many people will first think of using WD-40 but before we get into that, let’s discuss what a carburetor is and how it works.

A carburetor is an air filter for an engine that supplies fuel from the gas tank to the engine.

Many people wonder if they can use WD40 to clean their carburetors. Most would say no, but the truth is that you can.

The only thing is that it needs to be a spray-on type of WD40 and not the kind in a can or tube. It’s also important to remember that this method should never be used for long periods because it may damage your engine over time.

In Conclusion

If you are still reading this article, it means you know how to clean a carburetor on a lawn mower without removing it.

But there are safety tips that you might keep in mind.

The first one is when the engine is on, and the carburetor is in action; don’t touch the carburetor at all, not even with gloves.

The second piece of advice is, don’t start working on the carburetor open-up until it’s freezing.

That being said, you’re also advised to use the right tools to open the air filter and carburetor cover.

Making sure that the connections are tight is one of the safety concerns that you need to follow.

Good luck!

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