Why is New Kawasaki Mule Carb Leaking Fuel?

If you installed a new carburetor on a Kawasaki Mule side-by-side but it’s leaking fuel out of the overflow and won’t idle, what could be the problem?

Partzilla’s Kawasaki UTV expert John Talley hosts live Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John was asked what could be causing a brand new carburetor in a Kawasaki Mule to be pouring fuel out of the overflow. 

Kawasaki Mule New Carb Fuel Overflow Q&A

I put a new carb on my Kawasaki Mule and gas pours out of the overflow. It also won’t idle. Any ideas?

John Talley: Well it sounds like the float is stuck open. And even with a brand new carburetor, it can happen. So more than likely, or what you probably need to do is just open it up and break it loose, where the float bowl has the little needle jet that goes up there. I guarantee that little needle jet is just stuck the tiniest bit, and once you break it loose, it’ll be good to go. There is one kind of a cheat way you could try to break it loose. Take off the fuel line and then get a can of carb cleaner with a red straw, cram it in there and give it a couple of pops to see if that breaks it loose. If not, then just pull the bowl and break it loose.  

Watch the video below to see how to clean and rebuild a Kawasaki Mule carburetor.

Watch the video below to learn about whether you should clean, rebuild or replace a carburetor.  

Watch the video below to learn how to tell whether an engine is running rich or lean.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.