A stuck float caused a good deal of gas to go into the crankcase. The engine is model 281700 in a Murray riding lawn mower. I had forgot about it after leaving this project aside a few months, actually turned it on, died in about 20 seconds. I have drained the crankcase of the mess, I intend on popping out the plug and cranking. Is there anything else I can do to get clean oil back in this thing and see if it survived this mishap?

first off althow 20 sec's doesn't seem like a long time,I'd shoot a little oil into the cylinder b 4 cranking.

;) :rolleyes: Pull her apart and wash by hand :rolleyes: ;)

Drain and fill with fresh oil, run it and drain and fill with fresh..... this should do it.

When I took the bowl off, I could not find why it was overflowing. The float checked out good. I blew air into the seat area, the needle looked fine. I re-assembled and it appears to not want to overflow anymore, but I may very well put a stopcock in the fuel line to close it off when it is not running. Is there anything special about how to re-install the clip onto the needle? I read once, may not be this model, that it was preferred that the open part of the clip face one direction over another. Could just be old wives tale...

The high speed idle needs to be set at a certain rpm (1750). Is there a tool or trick to reading this value? Where can I get it.

THANKS

Put the float up to your ear and shake it. If you can hear anything, replace it. that`s the cause of your problem there.

Sometimes you may not hear anything..... one thing.... a good float feels very light, while a float full of fuel will certainly feel heavy. You can find a briggs tach by searching for it online to set it. Not really anything special about the clip, thats for tecumsehs....