Last Updated on March 26, 2024 by Sharaj
Firstly, a filter is a vital accessory in your machine that uses gas/fuel. They aid in cleaning gas entering the combustion chamber. You probably do not want your equipment to reduce its performance. You can do that by ensuring that the fuel filter is always in good condition.
If you are looking for ways to get rid of engine issues when operating your lawnmower, this article could be yours. Keep in mind that contaminated fuel leads to engine failure. The question comes, can you clean a fuel filter?
Fuel contamination results from impurities like debris, rust, dust particles, and others coming into contact with the gas. Engine issues will start as the impurities enter the machine system. Given that fuel filters play a role in the operation of your lawnmower, cleaning them often is the best idea.
How to Clean Your Lawnmower Fuel Filters
The method or process to clean your lawn mower filters will differ depending on the filter type. However, how frequently you are supposed to clean or replace clogged filters depends on various factors.
If you want convenience, you may opt for metallic filters. Cleaning them is easy, and they can operate for even a year before you have to clean again. When it comes to nylon/paper fuel filters, you need to keep an eye to do the necessary cleaning and replacement whenever you notice clogging signs. The only issue here is that nylon/paper filters might lose shape when cleaning thus becoming useless.
Just as any part of your lawnmower that ensures optimal performance, you can improve the health and durability of filters by cleaning. You might have many questions regarding the cleaning of your lawnmower filters.
For that reason, you can go through this comprehensive and detailed content for anything to do with cleaning lawnmower filters. If you want to ensure optimal performance when using your backyard equipment, let’s go dip.
Signs of a Clogged Fuel Filter
If you are among the homeowners who have no idea of lawnmower fuel filter location, everything is as simple as you can think. It depends on your lawnmower model. You can find the filters in the gas tank or the carburetor.
Pay attention to the performance of your engine when you want to diagnose clogged filters. Does the engine choke? Is the exhaust pipe emitting dark and foul smell fumes? If you affirm all these concerns, the issue can be clogged fuel filters. As fault filters impact the performance of your engine directly, note these signs of clogged filters.
Engine Stalling When You Accelerate: As you accelerate, more gas passes the filters into the engine. In that case, if your engine stalls and loses power when accelerating, fault filters can be the reason behind that.
Blocked filters lead to inadequate fuel flow to the combustion chamber thus the stalls when operating at high speeds. The best thing is to diagnose your lawnmower filters for particles like dust and rust or debris. How else can you ensure top performance when utilizing your mower?
The Engine Misfiring Randomly: Clogged filters can lead to engine misfiring. If your lawnmower does not sputter, you can reach out to your service provider to identify any error codes. Misfiring engine indicates inadequate fuel into the injectors.
That is why you may need to diagnose a fuel filter for blockage. There is no way misfiring can happen when you park your lawnmower in gear unless you are using the latest machine model. The only thing that can signify filter clogging during parking of your lawnmower is when the engine settles or idles roughly.
Loss of Engine Power: As long as there is inadequate fuel going through the injectors, expect your lawn mower engine to lose power. If that is your case, park your lawnmower immediately to check for fuel filter clogging. If you are using a modern machine, the dashboard will indicate an error code.
That always happens the moment your engine enters the limp mode. Nonetheless, the issue can be due to faulty injectors. In some cases, injectors will portray wrong signals, making you think the problem is with clogged fuel filters. For that reason, always ensure that you diagnose the entire components connecting filters to the carburetor and combustion chamber.
Physical Diagnosis: You can use the physical diagnosis option to identify clogged filters. Doing this is simple. You only need to blow a high volume of air via the fuel-in vent. If no air comes out of the fuel-out vent, clogging is the issue. It is necessary to clean or replace the filters.
Engine Failing to Start: Undoubtedly, most people think it is the fault in the engine when it fails to start. You might waste your resources and time detecting a healthy injector or carburetor. Failed ignition is among the problems by clogged fuel filters. Cleaning the filters can be the solution to your jerking engine.
Smelly Fumes: Are you getting a filthy smell from exhaust fumes? If so, examine the filters for clogging cases. In most scenarios, that is the reason. You can solve the matter by cleaning or replacing the faulty filters.
Let us find out more about cleaning fuel filters after you go through the above indicators of clogged fuel filters.
Cleaning Lawnmower Fuel Filters
Dirty fuel signifies clogged filters. The issue is, do you know the procedure for lawnmower fuel filter cleaning? Well, if you have no idea about that, you can get support from a reliable service provider.
Keep in mind that cleaning the filters twice each year will improve the efficiency of your mowing equipment. After all, what do you expect from an engine that gets clean fuel? We recommend you replace worn-out filters at least once per year.
A Guide to Clean Your Lawnmower
- The cleaning process starts with parking your mowing machine in a flat area. That can be in your garage or parking yard. To prevent fire disasters, ensure that your mower is in an open space. Also, put on protective gear before you start cleaning your lawnmower.
- Locate the gas pump fuse and remove it. After this, let your engine run for almost two minutes to get rid of the fuel system pressure.
- Disconnect the battery terminals. The whole thing with this step is to remove the spark plug to avert fire mishaps. Failing to remove the spark plug is risky since the machine can start running accidentally leading to calamities.
- Now, use a screw wrench to disconnect the fuel lines. Ensure that you have protective glasses for this task. Fuel might spill unintentionally into your eyes. You do not want that experience.
- It is now the filter ejection step. To prevent faults re-installation, mark the seating when ejecting the filter. The best thing is that most lawnmower models have an inscription that you can use to duck bad re-installation.
- You should be through with cleaning your clogged filters in around 10 – 15 minutes. Five minutes will be enough in case of fractional clogging. Tap the fuel filters in each end to drain fuel/debris/dirty residue. Clean your filters with gentleness and drain the fuel residue on a vessel.
- When unclogging fuel filters, make sure to use the best cleaner. You can use the carburetor cleaner in that case. Spray it both outside and inside the filter. Rinse the filter by tapping each end and leave it in an open space for about two hours to dry.
Precautions to Take When Cleaning Your Lawnmower Filters
As much as you may put your entire focus on your dirty filter, your safety matters a lot. That is why you need to observe precautionary measures whenever cleaning your mower filters. Put on protective gear. It can be any clothing that you have no issue tainting with oil. Use protective glasses for the safety of your eyes.
Always unmount the spark plug when in your cleaning task. The worst thing is your machine starting to run on its own. Leaving the spark plugs unplugged can cause fire accidents. If that scares you, you can reach out to lawnmower experts for assistance.
Summery
A clean fuel filter on a lawn mower translates to a top-performing and healthy engine. Keep in mind that fuel filter maintenance affects overall lawnmower performance. Make sure to familiarize yourself with the fuel filter material before you do anything about cleaning or replacing your filters.
Although cleaning metallic filters might be easy, you will have to be extra careful when it comes to nylon/paper filters to avoid further damages. The best way to deal with the latter ones is by replacement.
Ensure regular monitoring of your fuel filters if you want your engine to be in good condition. Clean filters will improve the performance of your mower. Moreover, you will get rid of emergency breakdowns as you enjoy long-term services.
The best thing is that you can follow the given precautions to clean the filters on your own. However, do not hesitate to contact equipment service providers if you want any help with your lawnmower fuel filter cleaning and replacement.
