Toro Recycler Briggs & Stratton-leaking from exhaust

Good evening all,

I got an 8 year old Toro Recycler from a neighbor that was replacing it as it was no longer starting. Me being both cheep and in need of a push mower to supplement my tractor was happy to take it for free, assuming it was a pretty easy repair after doing some googling. I am by no means a mechanic but I can follow video tutorials pretty well.

I replaced the spark plug and air filter, both were filthy. When that didn't get it any further I pulled carb and cleaned it, following directions I found online. I had to replace the gasket between the carb and air filter box as well as the air vane spring as they were damaged and lost respectively during the disassembly. I didn't replace the governor spring however

Today I got around to actually trying to run it and it it does start briefly (maybe a few seconds at most), but runs rough when it starts and is leaking either gas or a mix of gas and oil from the exhaust. I'm assuming this means it's flooding. As I've looked around online, signs point to needle and seat, but since I'm not an expert I don't really want to jump in and try to fix that if it is indeed the problem. But I also don't want to buy a new carb if that's not the issue. So here I am asking the experts Please be kind.

Ok You more than likely have a carb that is leaking from the needle and seat like you said....... You need the 498260 carb kit for your Briggs engine... When you said air vane spring I knew right away you had the EZ start auto choke on your mower......

I am gonna post 2 links to videos to help you solve your issue......

Here is the first one ..........

https://youtu.be/kJfpTX2Lx0g

Here is the second video link ...... If you need a gov spring you need part # 699056 Briggs .........

Hope this helps Mon Ami ~!~!

Let us know ............

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

Ok You more than likely have a carb that is leaking from the needle and seat like you said....... You need the 498260 carb kit for your Briggs engine... When you said air vane spring I knew right away you had the EZ start auto choke on your mower......

I am gonna post 2 links to videos to help you solve your issue......

Here is the first one ..........

Click to expand...

Yes exactly right about the auto choke. You think it makes sense to rebuild it rather than replace it? I know there aren't many more parts that could fail in the carb itself, but for the price difference it almost seems like a wash to just replace the thing.

Kit the carb it's much cheaper to to it that way....... A cheap chinese carb will give you issues......

The kit from a Briggs store is 12 bux....

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

Kit the carb it's much cheaper to to it that way....... A cheap chinese carb will give you issues......

The kit from a Briggs store is 12 bux....

Click to expand...

I got a new Briggs carb on Amazon since I had a credit and they could get it to me faster. Fires right up on a pretty gentle pull now. Now I need to empty the nasty grass bag on it but she's running and cutting like a (beat up) champ.