Hey y'all, I picked up a Craftsman self-propelled mower that was put out for trash on the street the other day. Took it home to tinker around with it. It looks like it had been left out in the elements and not run in years. Fuel tank was missing the cap (water in the tank) Took off the carb, Totally full of varnish. Cleaned out the carb best I could but had trouble clearing the bolt with the bowl jet. I heated it up with a torch and reamed out the orifice to clear it. Replaced the gasket between the air filter housing as saw it wasn't sealing properly. I replaced the gas cap, cleared the old fuel out and put fresh gas in. Priming the carb, I could see fuel squirting into the carb throat. A quick pull, plenty of compression, and she fired up. She runs but seems a bit rich, with the slight black smoke and RPM's a bit off(slow). I've pulled the carb a few more times to make sure all the orifices are clear. Ive also pulled the fly wheel to make sure the Key wasn't damaged. Not sure if I'm missing anything else. Air Filter is new. I'm thinking that maybe I reamed the main jet orifice to much and throwing off the fuel/air mixture. With as full of varnish that carb was, maybe a new carb is the cheapest fix?
