Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I noticed fuel leaking out of carberator intake when engine is stopped on my snow thrower. Prior to this I replaced the needle and seat as a tune up measure. Is it possible to put the seat in backwards? I did notice that the rubber seat is groved on one side and flat on the other. I took it apart again and checked the float. I blew in the fuel line and moved the float up and it seems to seal off well. But when i put it back together it still leaks fuel. Where else can the fuel be coming from?  Thanks

I'm happy that  stumbled upon ths thread. My stepson gave me his old Ariens ST824 (model 924050 w/ Tecumseh 8HP). It stopped running so he went out and bought a new snowblower. Being the tinkerer that I am, I did some troubleshooting and determined that it was the carb that was faulty.  So I went to my local Ariens dealer and purchased a rebuild kit for the carb. After I rebuilt it, I installed it back on the motor. As soon as I opened the gas valve, gas started pouring out of the primer outlet. I was sure that I did everything right so I took it apart again but didn't see anything wrong. I Googled my problem - low and behold, I found this thread. I'm happy to say that it turned out to be that I put the grooved side of the needle seal towards the bowl. I flipped it around and seated it using the shaft of a drill bit, put it all back together, and voila! No more gas leaking and it started right up! Thanks guys, I appreciate the tip.

Now I need to tweak the adjustments on the carb. It runs fine at near full throttle with the choke 3/4 on (which I'm sure is not right) and stalls out at mid to low rpms. What's your advice fine tuning the carb? I did one and a half turns from closed on the screw at the bottom of the bowl. Should I tweak this one out some more - maybe 2 turns?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

turn it a 1/8 of a turn at a time,on the side it should be 1 turn out

If you cant correct the high speed adj check the main jet ,thats the brass hollow bolt that holds the bowl on. Mine had two horizontal holes(jets) in it and the small one was cloged Its so small I didnt even see it the first time I cleaned the carborator.Be carefull not to enlarge this hole (jet)I used the fine wire in side of a trash bag twist tie.

Hey there hcd724 beware that if the engine is getting wet when your using the machine that could cause rough running . Shield off the motor and that will solve that problem. What i did with my carberator was take it apart and blow out every hole with carb cleaner. if you look in the carb from the choke side you will see 2 small holes on the right. make sure the are clear. blow in the needle valve areas. when its back together back of the main jet needle 1.5 turns (bottom side needle. ) Back off idle adjustment needle on the (side of carb )1.5 turns. this should let the motor start. Let it warm up turn the idle needle  in  until engine changes sound an starts running rough then turn it back untill it starts doing the same thing . Then turn it back in to the center point.   Now exellerate engine High speed and do the same with the bottom fast idle needle screw. Worked for me. I was having to run mine with choke 3/4 on too before taking it all apart and adjusting. Also I removed the blower housing and cleaned the ignition coil and re adjusted gap. Starts on the first pull.