What would cause my lawn mower to squirt gasoline out of the exhaust when I try to start it?

Question

I have a Dynamark 8008 push mower with a 5.0 HP Tecumseh engine. It ran normally last week.

Then today, I couldn't get it started. Instead, a little gasoline would spurt out of the exhaust each time that I pulled the starting cable.

What's likely wrong with the mower? What could have caused it, and what should I do now?

Answer 1

i'll bet that the float in the carburator is stuck open. try tapping on the side of the bowl (below the carb) with the handle of a screwdriver, that may unstick it. if that does it, you may want to consider putting a couple of ounces of carb cleaner in your gas can, (not the tank on the lawnmower), and run that thru it for the next few lawn cuts to clean things out. if tapping it doesn't fix it, you might have to send it into the shop so they can check out the carburator. good luck, hope this gets you running, car dude.

Answer 2

I agree with car dude, but there is an alternate possibility. If you hit a stump or other hard object it is possible to knock the timing completely off. This type of engine doesn't have a distributor like a car. The timing is controled by a contact on the flywheel. High end lawn mowers have a clutch to control this, but less expensive ones don't.

It is likely you messed up the timing slightly. When the engine was hot it would still restart. I will probobly start now with an aerosol starter fluid, but it won't run efficiently.

You will need to take it to a small engine mechanic.