I ran the tractor almost all day Sat....this morning I noticed large puddle under the tractor. It appears that where the choke cable attaches to the carb was leaking gas with a steady drip. I took the carb off and went ahead and removed the fuel line and sediment bowl to give it all a good cleaning. I'm not a mechanic by any means so I'm wondering if I need to replace the whole carb or can the mechanism where the choke attaches be repaired/replaced to stop the leaking? Thanks for any guidance y'all can give me!
I don't believe the choke is the problem.And I don't believe you need to replace the carb. With a good cleaning and some work on the float valve system and you should be good to go. Another thing you want to do is to shut the fuel valve off at the tank when you shut down to preclude a hung float from filling the engine with fuel when the engine isn't running.
It's most likely the float level/float valve that is the problem. Your float could have a leak and it's filled with fuel and causing the fuel bowl to be overfilled constantly since the float won't rise and shut off the fuel.
You can also have a good float but an improper adjustment of the float level that is not allowing the float valve to close.
Sometmes the float can "hang" on the side of the fuel bowl and not close. A sharp rap with a wooded block can cause it to "un-hang".
Finally, the float valve itself can be damaged and is not sealing properly.
To check for these problems remove the carb and remove the float. Is the float feel heavy or does it have fuel in it? if so, look for a pin hole. If you put it in a pan of warm water you'll see some bubbles where the leak is at. You can let the fuel drain out and then solder the hole closed.
Many float valves have a viton tipped needle valve that can dry out or get deformed and not seal. Replace it.
You need to really reef the float valve down into the body of the carb to make sure it seals and fuel does not leak around the gasket and threads.
You need to adjust the floats to the correct level to make sure the carb meteing section functions properly.