Craftsman 4hp Eager-1 engine idles all over the place & dies

[mmanter]

Now I think I know part of the solution of this issue but not completely sure.

Picked up a 1990 Craftsman 20" mower for $30 so I can cut my grass since my second mower had more than just a crank seal bad on it. When I tested it at the guys house the mower worked perfect. Even got my front grass cut with no problem. When I started to cut the back which was a bit taller thanks to the cable company not burying the cable under ground quicker I noticed the mower started to idle different. It jumped up & down before not running. If I pull the starter cord it would start right up, run for a moment or two while the engine speed went up & down before stalling. That was at around 6pm eastern time this evening. I just went to the garage a couple minutes ago (about 12:35am est) & noticed a gas smell that wasn't there before getting the mower. I noticed gas on the deck & the air filter was soaking wet with gas. I've since removed the filter & set it outside to dry out but am a bit perplexed.

With the original issue I was gonna remove the carburetor bowl, check for plugged jets & reassemble after clearing any debirs to see if that fixed the problem. Now I'm confused since I'm also leaking gas all over the place. I was gonna take the carb off the other craftsman mower I had but being two different tecumseh engines I figured it would be different even though they look the same.

Again, any help is appreciated, especially since I bought the mower as is & am now basically stuck with it.

 

[Rivets]

Clean and rebuild the carb. Get a new float needle and seat, Tecumseh part number 631021B. This manual might help you.

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12502267/Tecumseh/Tecumseh L-Head.pdf

 

[Fish]

Just remove the nut on the bottom of the carb and remove the bowl, you will see a brass float with a silver hinge pin, pull the pin out and
drop the float down. The needle is held loosely to the float by a small clip, pull it off. Give the float a shake and listen for fuel sloshing inside,
as this is common on these engines. If so, replace it.

Fish

 

[mmanter]

Just remove the nut on the bottom of the carb and remove the bowl, you will see a brass float with a silver hinge pin, pull the pin out and
drop the float down. The needle is held loosely to the float by a small clip, pull it off. Give the float a shake and listen for fuel sloshing inside,
as this is common on these engines. If so, replace it.

Fish

Thanks for the tip... No sloshing around in the float so all is good there. Gonna replace all the gaskets and put in fresh gas from my old mower. That was just filled up so I know it's good. Also checked the nut & cleared any debris in the little hole & all is good to go. I also noticed the gas in the tank had something in it. Not sure if it's old gas or if it was water but the gas was anything but clean. Gonna take it off the engine, clean with carb cleaner, reinstall & hope for the best.

Thanks guys for all your help!

 

[Fish]

Thanks for the tip... No sloshing around in the float so all is good there. Gonna replace all the gaskets and put in fresh gas from my old mower. That was just filled up so I know it's good. Also checked the nut & cleared any debris in the little hole & all is good to go. I also noticed the gas in the tank had something in it. Not sure if it's old gas or if it was water but the gas was anything but clean. Gonna take it off the engine, clean with carb cleaner, reinstall & hope for the best.

Thanks guys for all your help!

Look closely at the nut that holds the bowl on, it has a few tiny holes in the side of it, clean them well before reinstalling too!

 

[mmanter]

Look closely at the nut that holds the bowl on, it has a few tiny holes in the side of it, clean them well before reinstalling too!

Yep, that's the one I cleaned. I also noticed the inlet seat for the needle was completly missing. Got the part now in the process of cleaning everything up & putting back together. already used carb cleaner at the carb & got it ready to reinstall once I reassemble everything

 

[mmanter]

Well I got the carb back together & at first it ran ok but when I shut it off to empty the bag the mower wouldn't re-fire. I dunno & am getting to the point where I wanna just borrow my dad's for the rest of the season then buy one on clearance somewhere