Snlowblower carburetor fuel leak

[Christien]

Helping my neighbour sort out a leak in his snowblower. It's leaking fuel from the carburetor when the unit is tipped backwards a bit - not a lot, only what you'd normally tip it when maneouvering it around and parking it in the garage. We took the air filter off to get a closer look, and it's coming right out of the carb opening (as opposed to leaking from a seal anywhere). And it's more than just a drip, it's a stream of fuel pouring out.

Anyone have any ideas on where to start with this?

Thanks.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I'd clean the float bowl/float bowl needle first.

[red 69]

it could be coming from the carb gasket or the bowl where the float is located

[Christien]

Ok, thanks guys. I'll pull off the carb and have a look.

[ckelly78z]

Whenever I work on a small engine that has sat for awhile with bad gas in it, I get a flat piece of cardboard on a table for a clean work space, and I pull the carb off, and remove all small parts, (noting the adjustment screws placement) and pieces including jets, floats, needles. The then spray all of the tiny holes with carb cleaner, and blow through them to ensure no blockages. I wipe off each individual piece, and put it all back together (probably a total of 15-16 parts/pieces) shake the float around to hear if it has fuel inside of it...(it shouldn't).

This will usually fix any fuel problem, and take only about 1/2 hour of total time.

[dad911]

This fall I swapped in new carbs on chainsaw, blower, etc.

$10-$15 on Amazon. Complete kits with gaskets, filters & plugs. Not worth rebuilding.

[NY65912]

Originally Posted by dad911

This fall I swapped in new carbs on chainsaw, blower, etc.

$10-$15 on Amazon. Complete kits with gaskets, filters & plugs. Not worth rebuilding.

Completely agree. I just swapped out a carb on my snowblower. $18 shipped on the Amazons. Don't forget that the governor will most likely need to be reset after the carb is removed.

[dad911]

Also change the fuel lines. I have found a few that looked ok, but could not blow air through, swollen shut. I suspect the alcohol in the gas?

[1990C4S]

There are a bunch of very good carb repair videos for snowblowers on youtube. Some guy from Quebec I think.

It sounds like 'your' bowl is not sealed at the top. There is a rubber gasket that gets compressed by the bowl when you tighten the nut on the bottom of the bowl. Give it a quarter turn.

[cabmandone]

Being the jackass I am I was cleaning the carb on my snow blower today and blew the needle seat out of it. I'm not upset since the original has a fixed idle and main jet. For $22 I got a new carb with idle and main adjustments. Nice!