Gas leak!

mowingmayhem

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My lawnmower is leaking or burning gas real badly. I fill it up to mow the lawn and about halfway through it is empty. I have tried putting gas in and leaving it on the patio to see if it would leak or where it was leaking from but have had no luck. Does anybody have any ideas on a better way to look for the source of the leak?
 

JDgreen

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My lawnmower is leaking or burning gas real badly. I fill it up to mow the lawn and about halfway through it is empty. I have tried putting gas in and leaving it on the patio to see if it would leak or where it was leaking from but have had no luck. Does anybody have any ideas on a better way to look for the source of the leak?

You are talking about a walk behind push mower....? How big is the yard? You should be able to mow at least one hour on a tank full of fuel on most newer mowers. If you cannot find any source of a fuel leak, and your gas tank cap is on tight, I don't know where the fuel is going. Got kids in your neighborhood with mini-bikes? Maybe they are siphoning your fuel. :laughing:
 

noma

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Hi mowingmayhem

You might be leaking gas into your oil through your carb,your float may be stuck or needle and seat may be bad, or there could be a small hole in your float.And you float is not floating and gas is running out into you oil. Can you smell or see gas in the motor oil or is it over full mark on the oil dip stick that you check the oil level on. Does it leak out on the out side maybe your gas line hose has a hole in it or filter on your gas line leaks, or shut off on your gas line leaks . Can you smell gas any where, how about the gas cap is bad and it leaks out when you are mowing and when you go over bumps it splashes out the cap . Only ideas hope this helps
 

jhwentworth

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mowingmayhem;3397 I have tried putting gas in and leaving it on the patio to see if it would leak or where it was leaking from but have had no luck. [/QUOTE said:
By "no luck" do you mean that the fuel level hadn't gone down? If your mower can sit with a full tank for a week without the fuel level dropping then it's not leaking fuel either externally or internally.

If it's not leaking fuel it must be burning it. How does the engine run? What's the condition of the spark plug (is it sooty?)? Many walkbehinds use a carb mounted on the fuel tank and when the carb diaphragm goes bad the engine will run very rich. What brand of engine is in your mower?
 
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