Tips on How to Fix a Bad Carburetor on Your Riding Lawn Mower

If your riding lawn mower's carburetor is leaking you need to fix it right away. A leaking carburetor is not only wasteful but also is dangerous. It might be difficult to get to, but it is worth doing. The first thing you want to do is open up the hood of your lawn mower. You should be able to spot the carburetor.

Be careful when you are taking off your carburetor, because if your wrench slips you could slam your knuckles against something sharp. Also never do this if the engine has ran recently, because the exhaust will be quite hot and will burn you much easier then you would suspect.

Now that you have located the carburetor you will need to remove the air filter. Normally there are two bolts or screws that are holding the air filter to the carburetor. If you have a large or older tractor however your air filter might be held on with one nut in the center, like that of an old automobile.

Once you have taken that off it should be a lot easier to remove the carburetor. There should be two bolts there are holding the carburetor on. It might be a tough squeeze but you should be able to fit an ordinary wrench into the spot. If you cant you should be able to get at it with a ratcheting wrench with an extender. Once you have removed the bolts you will have to detach the cables that are on the carburetor. Remember where they go because it might be difficult to figure out which one goes where. If you do not trust yourself to remember you can mark the wires and where they go with masking tape and a marker. Now it is time to take off the gas line. If there is fuel in the gas tank you will either need to put a clamp on the line to pinch the line, and stop the fuel from leaking out, or plug the end up with a dull pencil. To take off the gas line you will either need a screw driver or a pliers depending on what type you have.

Now you are ready to either put a new carburetor on, or rebuild the one you have. If you want to rebuild your carburetor, you should purchase a gasket kit for your model. Take your carburetor apart and replace all the new gaskets you can, where you took the old ones out. Once you have the new or rebuilt carburetor ready just do the process of taking it off in reverse. Make sure everything is tight and when everything is back together start your lawn mower up again.