Ok, so push and self-propelled mowers, and some pressure washers you can do this on. I already know about this method, it’s called the “quick and dirty “ carburetor cleaning method. The bowl gasket is sometimes difficult to line up, just cleaning the main jet and emulsion tube doesn’t always work, it does not apply to handheld equipment, or for that matter some riding and zero turn mowers. I work on not many push and self-propelled mowers in comparison to all different types of equipment. Youtube guys do use the “quick and dirty”. That is how I learned about it years ago.
I don't find that many of the YouTube guys use this method but it's all over the place on YouTube and that's why I hate bothering with the videos and don't like it when people go there because they typically do more work than they need to do or mess things up and then can't get it fixed on their own.
I find that most YouTube videos take the whole thing apart and lay on the table because you know they are trying to do an instructional video so it's easier to show what's going on if that's what they're trying to do.
I don't call it quick and dirty I will say it's a little bit harder to do but it is faster and I find the results are the same.
As you said, you can't do them all this way as if you have a Honda with a clogged up secondary idle jet it's going to surge after you do this and it's possible but very much too tedious and time-consuming to try to clean out that jet with the carburetor still on the machine so you just take the carburetor off at that point or on those to begin with.
The three kinds that I almost always do this way are the old Briggs, the new Briggs with the plastic carb and most of the Hauyi or the clones of those.
These are almost always easily accessible on mowers, pressure washers, generators.
I think I mentioned that I don't do the handheld stuff anymore so that's not a concern for me and doesn't apply to my carb cleanout procedures
But you can do these also and I have many times. Most of them have the primer bulb with the two screw metal ring that holds it on.
After you pop this off you just lift up the little metering block which gets you to the little cellophane like carb part where the fuel pump check valves are.
I blast that out with carb cleaner spray and usually take the screen out for the little bowl is to remove all the frog crap looking stuff in there and then make sure the plastic is good for that piece or replace it if you have one and then put it back together and this almost always does the trick because most of them are just gummed up in that area.
Sure, if you have a ruptured diaphragm on the other side or a inlet needle that's not opening or closing properly you the more than likely will have to take the carburetor off to get to it but for the simple no starts on a string trim or blower I have done many this way without removing the whole carb.
Let's face it, many of these small handheld engines that come in for not running or not running properly only need the fuel mixtures adjusted because they will run with the choke on but die as soon as you turn the choke off or pull the trigger because weren't really adjusted properly from the factory when they left..
All you have to do is adjust the fuel mixture and the machine is better than new!
However, most shops are going to go ahead and tear the carburetor off and do a rebuild or replace the carburetor at a price of around $79 plus parts at least in my area.
The shops would see that is leaving money on the table if you didn't go ahead and do it etc.
I just don't want to take the time to do those as the small items, as you mentioned earlier, often need more disassembly and stuff so they are more time consuming than a push more, pressure washer, generator so that's what I have streamlined my business model to.
Certain riders are certainly not possible to do because of engine position and such but most riders of zero turns you can also drop the bowl and remove the jet and or emulsion tube and even replace the bowl gasket and the bolt gasket and get them running perfectly.
I have done this many times on the Briggs & Stratton two jet carbs, the Nikki, walbro, Kohler (usually walbro), and the newer MTD built engine (prob Loncin engine).
My main point is there's usually multiple ways of doing something to obtain the same desired results.
I'm not criticizing other people's methods as long as it works for them but I am a little critical of people on YouTube telling people how to do things like there's only one way to do something.
Whatever works for a person is fine but they should be open and pay attention to everything and think outside of the box sometimes.
For instance, I used to really take a Honda carburetor off of a machine because at least 80% of the time or higher when I cleaned out from the bottom and screwed the jet and the tube back in it ran perfectly.
BUT THEN, the percentage rate went way down and I found myself off and having to then remove the carburetor because on the Honda it's way too tedious to get the screw out and very hard to run a wire through the holes inside the bore which is on the engine side so I just started taking the carbs off to start with.
So that one's a gamble.
IF you get lucky since the odds are in your favor and get it running perfectly by just cleaning out the main jet and the bowl from the bottom then you save time.
But if it surges and then you have to take the whole car off to clean out the idle circuit then you've spent more time than if you would have just removed the carb to begin with.
Hondas are the loan case that I see this often enough that it's worth consideration.
On all of the other ones it's not even a decision for me, I work a little harder doing it on the machine but for a far shorter period of time so that's what works for me.
Also, you have to be careful by calling it quick and dirty or whatever but I commend you for not criticizing the whole process or saying it was an inferior way of doing it like some people do.
The only thing that matters is the end result and the longevity of the repair etc because so many people screw up other things in the process even if they do it what they're considering the more correct way by removing the carburetor or even replacing a new carburetor.
Mess up one little thing or forget one step and then the end result is pretty poor.
For instance, there's people out there who will take the carb off and clean it out or put a new carburetor on but totally neglect driving and flushing the fuel tank and if that's a problem you're going to have a nice clean or new carburetor not running properly and clogged up in short order.
Then you have those that don't inspect and replace an old crumbling fuel line and then you have pieces flaking off and clogging up the jets quickly.
Then you have those that are in a hurry, or careless or ape-fisted who strip off bolts or damage or tweak things like springs and such when they remove and replace the carburetor.
