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Hi all!

Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction on how to fix this issue. I've had this mower since 2015 and lately it's the first time I'm having problems with it. I'm not familiar with mower parts and all that but I'll try my best to explain the issue.

The last three times it didn't sound like it was running right. And it did burn out white smoke one of the times for a few seconds. As you can see in the pics, the air filter appears to be soaked with gas. It looks and smells more like gas to me than oil. And there is enough oil in there as I checked with the dipstick.The previous filter was totally soaked as I used it a couple of times before I put a new one in that now is half soaked.

I see that in the bottom hole there is gas accumulated, which I soaked up with a paper towel. And there's a flap there that was in the open position. I used a pencil to poke it and close it. Not sure what that is called. Is that for air to be released but somehow gas is leaking down into there and coming out the opening when the flap is open?

The mower does run and work. But it sounds funny. And the last time I used it, it turned off on me but I started right back up.

Any suggestions on what part to look for? After getting some advice I suppose I can youtube to see any tutorials out there on how to change it.

Thanks for the tips.


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The carb float valve is not shutting off the fuel supply
Remove the carb & clean it and in particular the float needle
Depending upon which carb you have fitted it may need a new needle
I was going to send you to "www.outdoorpowerinfo" which has an excellent photo tutorial but the site has been down for a while so it may need to be accessed via the WaybackMachine

Thanks for the reply. Did some digging on youtube based on what you said and found a guy who has two videos on this for the same carb. And one of them involves the same mower I have. Going to give it a shot.

I followed this video. Same engine as mine. What happens is that the little plastic post rubs up on the metal bracket and get's stuck. It's on a spring and in the video he pulled it towards him, let it touch the bracket and let go. And it got stuck. So that flap is stuck open when you go to start. So he shaved off the excess plastic on the left side of that post and then demonstrated that it no longer comes close to touching the bracket. I did the same thing and my mower started right away.

Well, the second time I went to go start it, which was a week later, it took a dozen tries. And this happened three days ago as well. Both times, the flap is not stuck open. It's closed like it should be for startup.

And the new filter I put in got gas on it again. But that first time after the repair, when it started right away, there was no gas on the filter. If I remember correctly, I checked it after that initial mow.

Now, as you can see, gas is sitting in there so it's leaking from somewhere. Would that be related to the carb float valve not shutting off the supply like you said?

The guy also has a video for the same mower as mine for a carb cleanout. I suppose I could try that.



Design Flaw:

Carb Clean:

As Bert said, the float needle is not sealing and letting the bowl overflow up into the venturi of the carburetor.

Thanks. Do people sometimes reset the float need and valve or do they almost always order a replacement? I literally can't find a site that ships the needle (part 594581) to Canada. B&S site doesn't ship to Canada and the Canadian site doesn't offer parts. All other general parts site either can't locate that number or don't ship to Canada.

Well, ebay.ca has it listed but will cost me well over $30 CAD with shipping and not sure how long it will take.

I will have to call a few mower stores Monday morning to see if they can obtain the the needle and maybe the valve.

try cleaning it up and see what happens.

I am cleaning the carb like in the video posted above, but when it comes to the float needle and the seat, I see that some people use something like a metal polish and a bamboo skewer or qtip and put it in a drill and gently "polish" the seat. Perhaps I will try that.

I opened up the carb and no hole is gummed up with any crystalized gas or any gunk. I'm still cleaning everything with carb spray and compressed air but I guess the crucial part will be the needle and seat.

Well the closest mower store to me has one of those needles. And they can order the little seat for it. The guy said it’s most likely the needle causing the issue. It’s $12 CAD for the needle.

Now I’m wondering if I should try polishing the seat like I’ve seen in multiple videos and reassemble to save a few bucks or replace the needle and reassemble.

Clean the engine PRIOR to opening her up. Why? Because all that grit can now easily get inside the engine. Just like a hospital room. Leaf blower, old paint brush, shop air and safety glasses.

Well, I got the needle replacement and put it in. Reassembled the carb after a cleaning and the mower started on the third pull, which was an improvement from the dozen + attempts previously. But took out the filter afterwards to look and I have gas pooled like as shown in the first couple of pics. I left the same filter in that I put in two mowings ago and I left the dirty side down. So next time I'll put the clean side of it down and see what it looks like. Though the mower sounded better than the previous few uses.

When I picked up the part from the local shop, I brought in the carb. He said the needle looked fine but it's usually the culprit so I got the new needle anyway. He said the seat in there is made of brass while the needle has a rubber tip (existing and new one). He said sometimes the seat is rubber while needle is all metal. He didn't see anything wrong with the seat but he'd have to order one as they don't have in stock. I could also try polishing it with metal polish and qtip as I saw in some videos. Or order a whole new carb, which I will check on now regarding the price.

He also said he was surprised to see a brass seat. He asked if I had modified it before. I haven't touched it since I bought this in 2015.

I have mowed twice since. The clean side of the filter remains clean. And it starts first or second pull. Before both times I soaked up the gas that pooled like in the pic. But when I was done I looked and there was no gas pooled. But out of curiosity, the next day I would pull off the filter and look again and both times gas is pooled. No idea if that is normal.