I'm a novice and inherited the care of all of my father's cars, power tools, and tractor/lawn equipment after he passed away earlier this year. I've been getting by on manuals, books, and web sites and hope this one can help with one more question. I am trying to get my mother's snow thrower ready for inevitable NY snows (though luckily VERY mild year so far); after I took a look at it the other night and let it run for a few minutes, gas came pouring out of the carburetor. I suspect the issue concerns the fuel inlet but perhaps the float also could be the culprit. I was going to try just cleaning it with carb cleaner but maybe some replacement parts will be necessary as well. In any event, any thoughts would be appreciated or just point me to another thread if the issue already has been addressed with others.

To the extent it helps, this is a 20 year old Carftsman/Sears and my father was quite a handyman who kept everything running very well. I assume, therefore, that whatever needed to be done for spring/summer storage was done. Thanks a lot.

yet another tecumseh carburetor problem! What's likely going on is that the float and needle are clogged or stuck in the open position meaning that the needle isn't seating all the way. Many Tecumsehs have a rubber needle seat and a narrow passage for the needle to slide in and out of. These can get fouled up with deposits. The easy way to tell is to remove the bowl and see if by gently lifting the float up and down results in the gas being shut on and off. If it sticks at all, then take the carb off and clean it up. a Q-tip soaked in Gumout will do nicely cleaning out the needle passage.

Yet one more issue a lot of these engines have is that the thin brass float has sprung a leak from corrosion. Often times, the soldered edges split or there are microscopic holes in the brass. A sure-fire way to know if it is leaking is taking it off and shaking it. If you hear stuff sloshing around in there, then the float is snking, causing the needle to stay down and therfore allowing gas to continuosly flow. You can easily solder these back together. I usually drill a little hole in the top of the float (we're talking TINY) and then drain all the gas out. Then heat up your soldering iron. Don't use a torch as you'll melt it. Then clean the hell out of the brass with a dremel tool or steel wool. Then smear flux on the float and once the soldering iron has been on for say 10 minutes, apply the solder and let it flow into the holes- especially the one you drilled- and then into the corroded holes or cracks. Do it as little as possible. You don't want to weight it down. Otherwise, these floats are dirt-cheap. Fixing it just saves time.

Thanks, this is greatly appreciated. I am going to clean everything and see if that works. If not, I may just get a new part -- the soldering repair seems straightforward (and creative) but something I likely would mess up!