Could this problem arise because of ethanol which is refined from grain.
Possibly sugar which has a high fructose content and isn't this an acid? i am
not a chemist, but the problem did not exist before they started adding all
these "crappy" things to the fuel.

Snow Thrower?

Thank you very much for sharing.

Thanks for the info. I have the same problem with my Sears snowblower. I
contacted Sears parts to order a new bowl, gasket, and screws. I was told the
total would be 86 dollars. Needless to say I told them that was outrageous and
to forget it. Do you have any other suggestions for getting this part.

Ha! Thanx for the confirmation.
I have a 30 year old Mainline roto-tiller, with an Italian ACME engine, which I
haven't used in 2 years.
And naturally.. the last time I used it, I didn't drain the float bowl. Or run
the carb dry.
Just spent 3 hours cleaning the carb with acetone, ether and even a vacuum
cleaner. When placed up against the gas inlet, the latter is great for sucking
the last l'il bit of varnish out of those pinholes.
Finally, I saw the gas running out of the bottom of the float bowl,- success! -
so I put the screw back in the bottom of it.
Umm.. gasoline continued to drip. WTF?
???
Then I noticed same problem that you had - an almost microscopic pinhole or two
near the bottom of the bowl. So I've cleaned it, and dripped "crazy glue"
cyanoacrilate ($1.50 at the dollar-store) over the suspected holes. No epoxy
handy - I'll pick up some next time I'm in town. Until then I hope the crazy
glue is a sufficient plug.
BTW, dealer (in Kentucky) told me thata new float bowl is no longer
available, and said a new carb kit would be $250. HE suggested the $5 epoxy!
LOL!

I've had a 5HP, 22 inch Yard Machine for many years. I always run mine dry
every spring. Every winter when I fill it, it starts on the first pull. This
week when I filled the tank gas ran in a stream from the primer bulb & from the
left side of the engine. I know absolutely nothing about small gas engines. Is
this worth having a shop work on or is it time to invest in a current model? It
hasn't thrown as far as it used to the past few years.

un-frikken believable!!! I took my carb apart 3x because of the same leak.
Looked to be the paper gasket at the bottom of the bowl "only available in the
kit" for $16 (incls jet, retainer, gasket, bowl ring and 2 jet o-rings). I'm
on-line looking for an exploded view when I found this. Again, UN-FRIKKEN
BELIEVABLE!

May I add some information BECAUSE of all the hours I've spent on a few of my
snowblowers and what I've since found out, often the hard way?

When taking apart your carb and you know it worked at some time and wasn't put
together in backwards ways, take a picture of it at a few angles. It will help
later.

The fuel bowl: there's a dip on the bottom of it, that dip goes towards the
sparkplug. The deeper part will point outward and the spring-loaded fuel dump
aims/goes towards the front of the snowblower.

The Needle and clip: look at it closely to make sure there's no crud under it
where it inserts into the seat. Look closely at that seat, they do eventually
wear out and/or rot if you're constantly getting bad gas, water in it and ice
crystals etc. The seat is made out of polyurethane/teflon material or something
like it and it usually can last a long time even with it constantly being
soaked with gas. If you ever replace a seat, use a dentist-type pick to pull it
out and remember that the curved part of it (very slight difference from
opposite side) GOES DOWN and back into the seat. The needles wire clip ONLY
Goes in one direction when you re-install it. The wire end points towards the
choke's lever ie: where your throttle, choke lever selector, plastic key etc.
is. If you do happen to take apart your carb and remove the float and needle
etc., do it inside of a box that still has some sides to it and whatever might
fly out, stays in the box. Trust me, I've done this on a limestone driveway and
I've lost parts AND after replacing them (inconvenience of course), I've found
them months later. If ever going to a parts place, buy a spare needle and clip.
That metal tang under the float (old floats are often brass, new ones can be
plastic), DO NOT bend that tang, do NOT change the angle!

If your o-ring/bowl's gasket is worn, it'll cause problems. Even if it looks
like it fits, it's often deceiving; have a spare around for later in life. If
your bowl is corrode, it shouldn't be repaired unless it's a temp. fix until
you get a new one.

For a fixed jet type, the tiny holes in the bolt/jet at the bottom of the bowl,
DO get clogged with stuff. Recently mine were little bits of rubber from the
fuel line and if you miss one, it'll cause problems. Use a single strand of
wire or a sewing needle to clean out the holes, do NOT enlarge them so use
something smaller than their holes.

Fuel line/fuel hose, usually 1/4" inside diameter, corded rubber and the
outside diameter is usually 7/16" It's about $1.40 per foot and it doesn't hurt
to buy 2-3 feet and always have it on hand for spare.

Golf Tees. Handy if you have a bad shutoff and need to remove it and must plug
the line temporarily.

If you're going to take apart your carb and the adjustable screws for jet, idle
speed, idle mixture etc. were known to have been pretty well set to where they
should be AND you have a slight problem with knowing where 1 1/2 turns in/out
could be for initial setting (an example) then you can measure the distance
from the head to a fixed point on the carb body etc. Rather than use technical
terms etc., I've often just marked things to my own liking, measured where a
screw and spring might be turned in/out and later returned to those points for
initial settings-MY initial settings. The old adage about "initial 1 1/2 turns
out is sometimes hard to do if you drove the screw in further than others would
and so on. I had two 8hp Tecumseh models and both had their screws set
differently although both ran good/the same.

If it don't run or start, it's usually only a few things that can go
wrong-normal things IF engine will still work: Fuel, old or new, water, foreign
objects in it. My example of rubber bits plugging holes.
No spark? Pull the plug, connect it and set it near a metal part (or have
someone hold it with a pair of rubber-gripped pliers and hold near metal; the
plug's hole is a good ground). Look for spark when cranking over the engine or
pulling on the start cord.

Fuel: I have been getting it from Shell for awhile now. Years ago had a problem
with water in their gas so I stopped buying from there. Recently had a big
problem with not one BUT 3 snowblowers-stinking Shell gas! All during summer
months I put my fuel into the gerry cans while at the gas station, then into 1
or 2-liter plastic drink bottles so itwas easier to pour into mowers, scooters,
chainsaws etc. Usually you can see if there are any foreign objects in such
bottles. For water in gas, you'll definitely see that garbage. I filled up 4
gerry cans, 2 large, 2 small. When I got home I filled up some snowblowers and
since I was using different machines at different times, when the problems
popped up, I thought it was because we had rain (we've had lots of snow
already) and the engines were acting up. Eventually dumped all the fuel into
pop bottles and yup, water in everything and it did separate when in the
bottles. That fuel was burned up in outdoor firepits because you can't fix the
problem of water into gas.

I've now placed fuel/water separaters on my snowblowers' fuel lines and if you
don't go that far, at least get a cheaper paper filter and use in inline. At my
local stores they are less than $3 and you can see the paper filament inside
and any crap that was in the gas.

Long post but a lot of you will save yourself some frustration if you keep most
of it in mind. Lots of videos on YouTube to help BUT if you don't have online
capabilities nearby when fixing the machine, here goes:

The carb settings IF the screw under your carb bowl IS adjustable. ABOUT 1 1/2
turns OUT after you just screwed it in (gently, don't whale on it to drive it
into the bowl). That's a.k.a fuel mixture screw.

IF your idle mixture screw IS adjustable (it's the one right above the bracket
that holds your outer cover on), initially 1 1/4 turns OUT.

Your engine idle speed screw at top of carb's body will be at about the middle
of the screws total length. If you haven't touched it at any time, leave it
alone.

IF you have a fuel problem of some kind and want a quick test, remove the spark
plug and shoot some fresh fuel into the port/hole, replace plug, attach plug
wire and crank over engine. Obviously make sure throttle is on/up, choke etc.
If it starts and stalls, then you have a fuel problem in the carb or the fuel
line since it started with a shot of gas in there. Yes you can even run a motor
WITHOUT a carb and manifold(s) attached IF you know how to meter fuel going to
a running motor. I've done this with automobiles and motor cycles too.

thanks for sharing all of this. My MTD blower had the exact same leak - i
alway store it inside and when it started leaking (very small leak) it got the
boot outside!

Andrew... You Da Man.... I have just experienced the leaking gas syndrome that
you speak of.... It's a Tecumseh 10 HP on a 1987 Craftsman blower.....

Thanx man... I love you..!!

Like you said , a new bowl is cheap
No sense trying to fix the old one.

If you have fuel leaking from the carb this is what you do.First remove the
carb and remove the fuel bowl.If it has any dirt or crud it will have to be
cleaned.Remove the tank and the gas from the tank.Put a buch of ice cubes in
the tank and shake it and shake it to remove any crud and then flush it out
with water blow it out and use a couple paper towels to soak up any water by
using a coat hanger to move it around.Check the gas line and if it looks old or
is kinked replace it.Also check and clean the gas shutoff.Now for the carb.I
use carb cleaner and spray it in every hole I can find.I would need to make a
video to show all of them but on a tecumseh there is also a breather hole on
the outside of the carb most people miss.Shake the float and if your hear gas
inside it replace it.(I have repaired the brass float with solder but unless
you have done it before dont bother).The needle valve and seat should be ok but
with the float down blow into the gas inlet and if it dosnt seal you may have
to replace the seat.The best way to get it out is by using air pressure to blow
it out but be sure to hold a rag over the opening or else you will have to go
look for it in Austrailia.The special tool will sometimes damage the float.Once
that is good adjust the float level (a 11/64 ths drill bit under the float at
the front of the float is perfect for this)I always set the float a little on
the high side.The wire clip on the needle valve should have the long end facing
the choke.When you put it back together make sure the gasket on the bottom of
the fuel valve is good.If you do have a hole in the fuel bowl forget using
anything to fix it like epoxy.Solder will work but thats about it.Good luck.

Dear Mr. Pollack, Thanks 4 the info I will keep it in my "memory bank " just
in case I ever have that problem. You do seem well informed so I
need your help with a problem their so called "service technician" could not
help me with. I have a M.T.D. model 611 , 2 stage snowthrower. My wife bought
it for me in 1998 and it has performed GREAT ! I wish all of my toys worked
that well. Anyways, this past winter when I was throwing snow the idle ( or
throttle ) kept going down. It doesnt stall but its a pain having to keep
turning the throttle up every 5 seconds. I took the cover off the carburetor
and I see 1 spring but I dont know if there should be 2 springs. For the last
month of winter I had a piece of fishing line tied to the throttle handle so I
could keep the speed up. Any help you could give me would be great. We live in
Northern Michigan just a 1/3 mile off the mighty Lake Michigan and when we get
a clipper.....we get some snow and without a good running snowthrower I will
have BIG problems! Have you or any of your acquaintances ever ran into a
"sliding throttle" ? Or do you have a schematic of that carburetor ? Any help
Sir, will be Greatly appreciated. Thanking You in advance,I am. Phil

Thanks so much for putting this up, I will try this ....

Thank you! This is perfect! My fuel drips from the drain assembly, but when I
take the bowl off, clean, and blow, it seals...or seems to. I have replaced
the seal with 2 other seals. It still leaks! I will be pulling out a
flashlight tonight.

Thank you. I think you might have saved me many hours of frustration.

Holy moly, thank you!
Your description matches my problem so precisely that I'm positive your fix is
going to fix me.

Thank goodness for good samaritans who take the time to publish these solutions
when they discover them!

Can you sa how to set the valve piin and airr holle screw correctly?

have a toro snow thrower carb leaking gas, installed new carb still leaking. i
checked both floats seam to work ok . any idea?

Thank you for your insight, I've had this problem for about a month now and
couldn't figure out where the leak was coming from. I'll have to try the
procedure you've suggested and see if that's the problem with my snow-blower.

Sincerely,

Jerry Lo Raso / Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Thanks for the memo. after reading this I went back to check, my gasket was
the wrong size. When I took the bowl off, it was not sitting where the old
did, and after inspecting for pin holes, the gasket wouldn't fit. So put the
old gasket on. That will buy me some time, to get that, and a muffler. Thanks
for your write up!

My major gas leaking of the snow blower carburetor is caused by a leaking float
in the carburetor. It took me a long while to realize it. The simple trick to
checking the float is to shake it and listen for fluid noise inside the copper
float. It is like to have your toilet water tank float leaking and sinking to
the bottom of the water tank, then water just keep flood out of the top of the
tank all over you bathroom floor.

The leaking carbuerator again a problem two years in a row here. My local
repair/dealer repaired it last year. I did all and more to drain/witerized the
unit only to have it today literally spew gas all over--even gushing from the
rubber 'primer' button hole. When it runs it runs well but I've had nothing
but problems with my TORO unit each year. Doing your own repair subject to
damaging it more in addition to not having the required tools for all the screw
heads etc. on the unit. Is it me? I doubt it.

I have replaced the needle valve and seat twice on this carburetor and it's
still leaking. Thanks for the information. There is another product especially
made for gas leaks, It's called "Seal All" .

That is so funny.
Did everything, 4 hr tecumseh, snow blower that was given to a friend
Plug
Oil
Carb
hoses, tighten, adjust, clean.
Starts, nice idle, spewing the snow. Gets a little rough and begins to die
unless I shut off auger and drive, tilt back so on an angle, perks back up.
Shut it down and then starts leaking profusely at carb, again!
Then find this....funny

Andrew, thank you so much for this post. My Tecumseh engine on the snowblower
has developed the EXACT same problem.... a little pinhole leak in the bowl. I
had thought I had bad gas. I drained the tank; cleaned everything up; replaced
everything, and then I noticed the leak was worse. Sure enough, it was not a
leak at the gasket like I 1st suspected, but rather a teeny, tiny pinhole in
the bowl itself. I'm going to try the epoxy fix until warmer weather.

Thanks again for your detailed post!

A scarf got wrapped up in the rotors of my snow blower. To get the tangled
scarf out I had to press down on the handles and lay the handles on the ground
to get into the chute. I smelled gas and found gas coming out of the center of
the primer bulb. Is the bulb supposed to leak at a small stream when in that
position?
Thank you

My craftsman snow blower just started doing the same thing. Wouldnt start a
few weeks ago. Found out there was no gas in it, so i put about 1/2 tank in.
Started right up. Not long after, i noticed a small drip coming from the carb
area. This weekend, I finally had nice weather to check it out, and found the
problem. The PLASTIC fuel inlet fitting (90 degree elbow) coming from the tank
and connecting to the side of the carb had a small crack on the top. Very hard
to see unless you watch the gas dripping from it. I removed it, and mixed up
some epoxy and coated the entire crack, inside and out. Works like a charm
until I can order a replacement!

Have Tecumseh 8 HP engine on snow blower - was leaking gas by the carb bowl to
the point the entire gas tank would drain. Took it to a small engine shop and
they said it was dirty carb. They cleaned the carb and it still leaked, I
figured it was the carb so ordered a new one on line and yesterday went to
replace it. Once replaced - it still leaked. Come to find out - the fuel
line had a nick in it right where it attached to the carb and this was the
source of the problem. So start with the basic stuff first.

is the reason my snow thrower doesn't work because its leaking I cant get it
started .please give me some pointers

My problem is the fuel pod o-ring under the carb corroded and I can't find a
replacement. The Yardworks website and manual are useless. Does anyone have any
ideas? Thanx

similar problem, small leak before kit and clean, large leak after. My leak is
from the top of the cap where the seal is, Looks good but leaks like a sive
when I put gas in the tank, the blower stars, (hard to start), runs for a bit
then, struggles and dies if I do not adjust the needle valve at the bottom of
the carb cover. Float is good, all new parts in kit were installed.
I am not impressed and think I will replace the carb.

This solved my issue and I am excited to fix it. This is the second snowblower
I have had this issue with. Still had the other one and the bowl was still in
good shape to swap out. Now to figure out the problem on the old one and sell
it. Thanks!

Thank you. I am in the midst of this exact problem and am getting frustrated as
I cant figure it out. I cant wait to get home tonight to pull the bowl off and
check for this. I dont think I would've thought of this on my own without your
article. Thank you very much. Good, clear info like this is a godsend to those
of us who are not pro mechanics.

I got a 1987 Ariens snowblower with a Tecumseh Hs50 for free. Started but gas
poured out the intake. Got a new bowl, float, seat, needle and seals. Rebuilt
the carb and passed a wire through every nook and cranny, followed by a dousing
of carb cleaner. Put it all back together and gas still pours out the intake. I
read that you need to bend the metal tab on the float to force the needle into
the seat chamber more. Did that 100 times until I found the spot where the
float is inoperable because the tab is bent too much. Backed it off and it
still pours out gas. It is almost like the float isn't rising when gas fills
the bowl...so the fuel flow isn't shutoff. I can't figure it out. I also read
that the end of the float clip should point toward the engine...now I saw on
hear that it should point toward the choke. Too many variables...it shouldn't
be this difficult for such a simple mechanism.

Thanks for the post, my snow blower was leaking gas from the fuel pan. I
figured I'd try tighten the nut first before pulling it apart and looking for a
pin hole leak. You showed me where to look and it worked.

Hi Andrew,
I am operating a MDT snow thrower (277cc ZS 478SU Engine) that has operated for
two winters without a hitch until one night before this weekend's NE Blizzard
(don't cha know!) when fuel was added to the tank. Without even trying to start
the engine, fuel dumped out of the engine back near the carburetor. You
extensively covered one aspect of leakage (pin hole in bowl), and many others
were saved by the detail of your replies, but my major gushing problem appears
to originate at the junction of the rear of the carb, where it connects to the
'heater box.' Curiously, there is a metal on metal connection with no gasket,
and no covering over the area of the choke mechanism, adjacent to where the
breather hose enters the heater box. It leaks even more when you press down on
handles to lift the auger, since the choke compartment is open. I don't recall
any leakage in prior operation, why this now? What do you suggest??

Thank you. I hope it's a bowl hole and not the carb because I don't know
anything about seals or pins, etc. My question is, "how do I remove the
carburetor cover from a Tecumseh HS40 snow thrower? I have removed the two
small screws and the key but the red choke switch is still holding the cover
down. I cannot see a set screw in the knob and can't pull it straight out
either (like a stove knob). I don't want to break anything before I try to fix
the first issue. What do you suggest? More force or am I missing the real
reason that I cannot remove the cover?

I don't know if I was supposed to putcealant on the engine connects something
was done wrong with rebuild TROYBILT pony

andrew,very fine article,i believe this could be my problem,just checking
snow blower out b/4 winter and primed the carb,leaked from bottom of
bowl.
THANKS FOR THE GREAT ARTICLE
larry

Thanks - exactly what I had - a pinhole in the bowl metal - only way you would
find it was when you used the primer button or took the bowl and held it upto a
light. Now lets hope the epoxy holds up.

how about filling the float with something that's floats

Well I'm chiming in 7 years *to the day* from the pub date of this article and
I think it helped me too. My Toro 828 LXE came back from annual servicing
(which included a fresh carb kit) and promptly started leaking after 20 min of
use. This is on a 8HP Tecumseh Snow King engine. It is coming from this exact
location. My tech is bringing out a replacement bowl and drain spring assembly
and that will hopefully fix it. Thanks!

A little leak turned much worse after our 5th good snowfall this year. Finally
realized the bowl gasket wasn't fit on properly (by me after new carb
installation) and must have gotten worse with all the vibration. Works like a
charm.... 12 years now.

my father has an mtd an I discovered a fuel leak from it and this is caused by
a bad bleeder valve some of these engines have a bleeder valve on the float
bowl to allow a person to push the valve open if there is no fuel present they
also have them on quads this model runs however is rusted out and will need a
new float bowl or carb. anyone reading this id say if your machine runs u r
better off not to push the valve in just in case yours might start leaking

Really enjoyed your article and very helpful on my 524 snow thrower with a
Tecumseh engine leaks fuel out of a small hole on the side of the carburetor is
this Factory perhaps a weep hole or has it fuel eroded through the wall of my
carburetor?

Excellent find. I work at a repair shop and constantly rebuild carbs from poor
fuel. Best solution? Run gas from gas station during normal running, once ready
for storage run dry, find a store with "Non-ethanol" Canned fuel, add about
half the can into the gas tank, run for a few minutes and then shut unit off.
good to have carb full of non-ethanol fuel to keep from drying up certain parts
inside carb. But with the non-ethanol fuel you won't have any of the current
issues. And when I say add half the can, its because its about $8 per QUART, so
use wisely but will save you way more down the road then rebuilding carbs
constantly.

My snow thrower carb has no fuel bowl and doesnu2019t leak but itu2019s plugged
,
no fuel reaches its throat, iu2019m thinking like in hospital s
to put a tube from the fuel tank there.