Lawn mower carb change?

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RickN

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OK I finally scrapped up enough to buy a replacement OEM carb for my push mower. It is a B&S engine. As I am going to have to change it myself, is there anything I need to know? Any good videos to watch? Any things NOT to do?

Thanks guys.
 

TwoForFlinching

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There's a dude on YouTube, Steve's Small Engines (or something like that) It's a wealth of knowledge for stuff like that.

If it's anything like the Honda mowers, it's a PITA to key all of the gaskets and pieces in the assembly on those long undersized bolts. I used some of the wifes saran wrap to hold it all together while getting the bolts started, then took it off before torquing it down.

Also, don't tip it to the carb side getting it on/off the bench. You'll fill your filter with oil and spend the next fifteen minutes yelling Taurus words.
 

dlbleak

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Should a fairly easy swap Rick. TFF gives a good tip. Always roll your mower carb side up when doing blades, maintenance etc.
And yes, those Honda’s are hell to do. There’s like 6 things that have to line up to get the bolts in.
 
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HFS

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OP - Sorry for the mansplaining, this post is longer than I intended.

If it's one of those all-plastic B&S carbs (i.e., all plastic except for a couple of metal pins inside), it's easy enough that I was able to do it.

I think I watched this YouTube video on how to repair the B&S plastic carbs and went from there.
This guy says 9/32 and 5/16 inch sockets needed for disassembly; I just recall it was two small standard size sockets ???



NOTE, my cheap mower had some kind of a plastic swiveling piece on top of the carb (can be seen at about 2:45 into the video, has a plastic arm that reaches across).
Well, the OEM replacement carb I bought did not have this plastic swiveling piece.
It's mounted on a plastic shaft on the carb. I used a thin flat screwdriver to pop it off the old carb so I could put it on the new one.

On mine, this swiveling plastic piece on the carb had a hole that attached to a metal wire that ran over to the muffler.
It looked like, as the muffler got hot, a metal contraption on the muffler moved and the wire connector reached over to the carb and opened or closed something, via the plastic piece that swiveled back and forth on the carb.

Yeah, I know a lot of technical stuff about engines LOL.

ETA, the guy in the video shows the tools needed for repair. He includes a can of beer.
 
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Shadowrider

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Should a fairly easy swap Rick. TFF gives a good tip. Always roll your mower carb side up when doing blades, maintenance etc.
And yes, those Honda’s are hell to do. There’s like 6 things that have to line up to get the bolts in.
You got that right. I cussed the engineers like a sailor when I did my Honda. The only saving grace was the price of all the parts. New factory carb and all the gaskets was about $25 not counting the filter. Amazingly some of the carb parts could still be bought if one wanted to fix one. IDK why anyone would bother when you can just bolt on a new one. :screwy:
 

TwoForFlinching

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You got that right. I cussed the engineers like a sailor when I did my Honda. The only saving grace was the price of all the parts. New factory carb and all the gaskets was about $25 not counting the filter. Amazingly some of the carb parts could still be bought if one wanted to fix one. IDK why anyone would bother when you can just bolt on a new one. :screwy:

Another pro-tip, go to your local motorcycle shop and buy a clear inline fuel filter. Snip it in before the petcock and your honda will go years before needing a carb cleaning... provided you're using 100% gas. The jet/inlets in those carbs are just too dang small. Went from cleaning mine twice a season (when it starts surging) to haven't had a problem in 3 years.
 

dlbleak

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Honda’s have the fuel shut off’s. I shut the fuel off and zip tie the handle down and walk away. It fires up every year..
 

RickN

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Thanks for all the Honda tips, it a John Deere. :bolt:

Seriously, I drain the tank every year and it starts first time every year. Well until it broke of course.
 

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