Cub Cadet 1515 Clogged fuel line?

[dvd7e]

I have a ~2000-ish (yes, it’s old) Cub Cadet 1515 that I believe has a clogged fuel line and I’m looking for ideas on how to address.

The mower never starts on the first few attempts, because there’s no gas coming out of the fuel line. Pretty much every time I want to mow, I have to disconnect the fuel line from fuel filter (when I do, there’s no gas flow at all) and then using my mouth blow really hard for a few seconds to clear the sediment in the line/tank. When I do that, the fuel starts flowing and spraying everywhere and I have to quickly connect the fuel line back to fuel filter, and then I’m good to go, the mower will start up. I have to do this routine every week.

Any ideas on how to resolve this problem more permanently? Thank you

 

[bertsmobile1]

Drain the tank completely then let it dry out for a day or two\Remove the fuel cap & blow back through the fuel line with compressed air till the crud is blown out of the tank.
or
remove the tank& clean it out, a bit of a job .

 

[cpurvis]

Does it have an in-line fuel filter?

 

[Charlie8d]

Drain fuel tank by letting the disconnected fuel line hang below tank & catch all old gas in a container. Pour more gas in tank with line disconnected to flush tank. Replace fuel line from tank to carb with a new fuel filter in between. Use only new ethanol gas with some carb cleaner added to help clean & flush any more gunk out of tank into the filter. Run it like this & maybe change filter 1-2 more times. Hopefully, this will help & you won't have to remove the tank !!

 

[dvd7e]

Does it have an in-line fuel filter?

Not totally sure what you mean by inline, but it’s connected to a rubber fuel line that I can easily connect/disconnect.

 

[dvd7e]

Drain the tank completely then let it dry out for a day or two\Remove the fuel cap & blow back through the fuel line with compressed air till the crud is blown out of the tank.
or
remove the tank& clean it out, a bit of a job .

Blow the compressed air from up their the fuel line, or from the gas tank? And do you mean a can of compressed air, or like a compressor?

 

[dvd7e]

Drain fuel tank by letting the disconnected fuel line hang below tank & catch all old gas in a container. Pour more gas in tank with line disconnected to flush tank. Replace fuel line from tank to carb with a new fuel filter in between. Use only new ethanol gas with some carb cleaner added to help clean & flush any more gunk out of tank into the filter. Run it like this & maybe change filter 1-2 more times. Hopefully, this will help & you won't have to remove the tank !!

Is it ok to use carb cleaner in fuel? In 2 seconds of research I’ve read online that that is not recommended.

 

[cpurvis]

Not totally sure what you mean by inline, but it’s connected to a rubber fuel line that I can easily connect/disconnect.

'In line' means anywhere in the fuel line between the fuel tank and carburetor.

I'm not recommending this place, just using it for a picture of an inline fuel filter.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Drain fuel tank by letting the disconnected fuel line hang below tank & catch all old gas in a container. Pour more gas in tank with line disconnected to flush tank. Replace fuel line from tank to carb with a new fuel filter in between. Use only new ethanol gas with some carb cleaner added to help clean & flush any more gunk out of tank into the filter. Run it like this & maybe change filter 1-2 more times. Hopefully, this will help & you won't have to remove the tank !!

That will remove the SMALL bits but not the BIG bits.
Over time most mower tanks end up with grass clippings in there
And over time the water in the grass clippings get replaced with fuel
When this happens the clippings become almost the same density as the fuel so they float around in the tank , get drawn into the outlet but are too big to pass through the fuel outlet so they block it off .
When the fuel stops flowing they float away .
Even worse is that they are nearly transparent so very hard to see .
Back in the days of quality mowers, the fuel tanks had a filter in the inlet so ww=hen you poured the fuel in from a can that had all sorts of crud on the top , that got stuck in the screen & did not enter the tank proper.
However, people who are too stupid for their own good and too lazy to read their owners manuals like to pour fuel into their mowers while the engine is running .
having an input screen slows down the rate that the fuel could enter the tank causing it to overflow.
Because these morons are also blind & have no sense of smell they continue to pour the fuel all over their mower which eventually bursts into flames.
Thus the mower makers stopped putting screens in the tanks in order to avoid being sued on behalf of the brain dead .

 

[Charlie8d]

The new filter should have an arrow on it to show which way the fuel flows, so install it that way. I have a #1529 which is the same but bigger. I am not sure about yours , but some gas tanks are a bugger to remove.