The sediment bowl assembly is easy to service once removed from the tractor. This also makes you to drain all the crud that has collected on the bottom of the tank. Now’s the time to look inside the tank and see if it needs a good cleaning as well. Cleaning the sediment bowl and carb will be a never ending chore if the tank is a never ending source of rust, dirt and water. A rusty tank can be cleaned, it must be removed and filled with several pounds of loose nuts in 1 gallon of water with liquid laundry detergent. Seal the openings with duct tape and shake that tank around to knock the rust loose. Rinse and repeat until clean. You will never want to do that again. So, consider sealing the tank with a product like POR-15 to keep the tank from rusting again. Remember to inspect the fuel line and service the air cleaner as well.
This unit always leaked, and no wonder. It suffers with the wrong bail with a nut used as a spacer under the bowl, cracked bowl, stripped threads and corroded housing. The only piece salvageable is the petcock, even it needs new packing.
If the petcock shaft is bent, worn (lots of play), or the needle/seat are corroded, scored or gouged – it will always leak. This assembly is cast aluminum and the fittings are brass, both are soft metals that wear quickly and bend easily. Don’t waste your time trying to refurbish a worn out assembly when good replacements are readily available at reasonable prices.
Here’s another one that leaked in every possible way. There must have been a mile of teflon tape wrapped around every threaded piece on there. The gasket fell apart, the screen was buckled, the petcock was bent and the packing looks like an old sink washer. On the plus side, the sediment bowl isn’t cracked and casting is in good shape. This one is fixable so into carburetor cleaner with all of it.
I should be able to get a bit more life out of it, as long as the petcock holds up. It is not worn and the petcock formed a tight seal against the seat after I straightened it.
The new screen and gasket cost under $2.00.
Use Teflon valve packing. Don't use graphite packing, it dissolves in gasoline. I straightened the petcock before repacking, although the picture still shows it bent. Two times around the stem is plenty, stuff it into the cap, tighten it down, and put it all together. Looks just like a new one. I may have to add some RTV silicon with the Teflon if gasoline leaks past the packing material.
Cost $4.00 in parts.
