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Sorry for being a brand new newbe to gas lawn mower. Should have borrowed student loan gone university for this. Few years back my in-law gave me his used Craftsman 5.5 hp 917.387151 mower. Looked fairly new.I was still using my electric one in the meantime so his Craftsman sit in the garage for some years.Last week I rolled out the Craftsman filled motor oil and fuel. Cleaned up the machine making sure it's shinny ready to go. This morning I pressed the primer 5 times.Pulled the string.Nothing happened. No sound no nothing. Great! Oh,I see,I didn't plug in the spark plug wire. Meanwhile I see fuel start leaking from the air filter. Removed the air filter I see fuel pouring out from the opening. After a frantic messy rescue operation,I am now sitting here wondering what had happened to the motor.It might have something to do with the carburetor. I would appreciate any help or ideas from members of this forum.Thanks in advance.

Did you tip the mower with the air filter down when you cleaned it?

lawn mower fanatic said:

Did you tip the mower with the air filter down when you cleaned it?

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No. I am well aware by tilting the mower fuel or motor oil might leak.I understand that when the mower came in there was no fuel in there(it was used dry) but it had motor oil. At one occasion motor oil was spilled out when the mower was tilted accidentally,that's more than a year ago.

It has sat for years and the float is either stuck OR the needle seat is leaking...
YOU will likely find the motor oil is contaminated with fuel (and requires changing Again), and the cylinder most likely has raw fuel in it ( remove spark plug and spin engine over).
You will at minimum need to remove the float bowel, and may have to do a thorough carburetor cleaning... Not a big deal, but rather expected with storage over a long period... :smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

It has sat for years and the float is either stuck OR the needle seat is leaking...
YOU will likely find the motor oil is contaminated with fuel (and requires changing Again), and the cylinder most likely has raw fuel in it ( remove spark plug and spin engine over).
You will at minimum need to remove the float bowel, and may have to do a thorough carburetor cleaning... Not a big deal, but rather expected with storage over a long period... :smile:KennyV

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Thanks for the reply. I appreciate that very much. I watched the Youtube video on carb cleaning. Thank goodness we have videos to follow nowadays. Think I can handle that procedure. I'll check the motor oil see if contaminated or not.