Mower keeps stalling

pbesong

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I have a 20" Murray mower (Walmart) that has the carburetor mounted on the gas tank. It's only about 2 years old. This year it started stalling for some reason. It will start fine and you can mow with it, but then it will just stop for no apparent reason. has lots of gas. It will start again and will mow for a few minutes then stall again. I tried taking the carburetor out and cleaning it with carb cleaner, cleaned the air filter, cleaned the gas tank out, but still it keeps stalling. I thought maybe it was the gas cap, but it will stall even with the gas cap removed. Kind of at my wit's end as to what's causing this. oil level is perfect and spark plug is good too. anything else i should check?
 

pbesong

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If it helps any, I noticed the primer bulb is slow to spring back, although it does squirt gas after it fills. It takes about 7 seconds to spring back so i can push it again. I removed the clip and the bulb and it seems to be in perfect condition. I'm guessing some restriction or vacume leak is slowing the gas from getting to the bulb. would doubling up the carb to tank gasket help? i've heard they sometimes warp there. Maybe since it starts fine and only stalls after running for a while the heat of the engine may be expanding the air leak causing it to not get gas? just a theory. i don't know much about these carburetors.
 

Russ2251

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Check for debris (something missed) in tank.
Sounds like pick-up tube is blocked.
 

pbesong

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Is there a good way to clean that? I sprayed the screen really good with carb cleaner. Can it be removed to clean the tube out? Or is there another way to clean it?
 

pbesong

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Well I took the carb off again and cleaned every part. Took the primer bulb out and shot carb cleaner thru its holes and took the throttle plate out and removed the plastic tube and shot cleaner thru that and the pickup tube as well. the pickup tube could turn but did not seem to be able to be removed, so I just shot cleaner up thru the screen till i could see the cleaner moving thru it in the light. got it all back together and was able to start it no problem. I'll have to see if it punks out on me again after about 20 minutes of cutting. if it does i'll just get rid of the darned thing. tired of dealing with it.
 

murraymower

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The problem is two-fold; first you need to completely clean the carburetor's jets and passageways and then ensure an airtight reassembly including a perfect gasket. Clean the feed tube screen and, if necessary score the surface underneath the NEW gasket to help eliminate excess air. I fix, literally, dozens of these every year for my neighbors.
 

pbesong

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The problem is two-fold; first you need to completely clean the carburetor's jets and passageways and then ensure an airtight reassembly including a perfect gasket. Clean the feed tube screen and, if necessary score the surface underneath the NEW gasket to help eliminate excess air. I fix, literally, dozens of these every year for my neighbors.

I replaced the gasket and diaphragm layer and although it is much better, it still shut off once when being used. When you say score the surface underneath the new gasket, what are you scoring it with? a wire brush? and is that the surface of the gas tank you're scoring? should I put a second gasket above the rubber part so it's sandwiched in between 2 gaskets? I'm assuming as the engine gets hot it must be letting air inside between the carb and tank, which strangles the carb.
 
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