How to Drain Gas from Lawn Mower In 5 Simple Steps

Does your lawn mower not starting even after pulling the chain too many times? You have changed the spark plug, you have changed the oil, and you have also changed the air filter, and everything is fine even then there is no difference.

I can tell you right now if your machine is sitting all winter long or you’ve had somebody doing your yard for you and your machines been sitting, your gas cans been sitting, chances are you got bad gas.

Generally, people don’t use lawn mower in winters due to snowfall and forget to maintain it, and a very important part of that maintenance is draining the lawn mower old gas after using it that most people never do due to which the bad gas settle down and sometimes leads to rusting because of which their lawn mower does not start.

So, if you are struggling in draining your lawn mower old gas then you have landed on the right place as here, we have a complete step-by-step how to drain a lawn mower gas guide for you.

So, without wasting time, let’s dive into it.

Step by Step Guide to Drain Gas from Lawn Mower

Step 1: Safety First

Safety should be your first priority while dealing with any machine. So you want to wear some good quality gloves because you’re going to get gas on you there’s no way to avoid it.

You want to wear eye protection because the gas in the eye does not feel good and also wear protective clothes properly.

You need to be very careful because now you’re going to be dealing with gasoline.

Step 2: Clean the Fuel Tank Area

The first thing you want to do to drain your mower is to clean the fuel tank area. You can do this step in many ways.

You can use some water, you can use a towel, you can use some mineral spirits on a paintbrush, some gasoline on a paintbrush and brush it up or you can even use a garden hose but with very light pressure. This method can also be applied when cleaning a gas can.

Step 3: Use an Oil Catching Pan or Container

You can use any type of oil catching pan or container to collect the old bad gas to recycle it for reuse. Place it on the dipstick side of the lawnmower.

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Step 4: Removing the Gas

There are many ways to remove the gas, but we will suggest you two simplest and easiest ways to take it out of your mower.

By Tilting the Mower

Tilt the lawn mower over onto the dipstick side so that your air filter is always pointed up. You never want the air filter to be on the lowest side because then your air filter will become saturated.

This method can work on any lawnmower except the riding one as these are much heavier lawn mowers, and for a single person, it is very risky to tilt them.

You can take someone else’s help if you really want to tilt it or you can drain the gas by using the other method we have listed down.

By Using the Siphon Pump

This is the easiest method you can use to drain gas from any lawn mower or any other gas-powered tool. But for this method, you will need a siphon pump, so if you already have it then it is good, but if you don’t have then you can either make it yourself or buy it from a hardware shop.

The siphon pump comes with several different hoses. You’ll need only two hoses, the top hose and the bottom hose for this particular project.

The top hose is the hose that we will stick down into the gas tank to siphon the old fluid out and then the hose at the bottom will be going into the pan or container to catch the liquid that recycles.

And pump it about 3-4 times, and it will start pumping all the gas out from your mower’s tank into your container. This process might take some time, so please be patient.

Step 5: Unscrew the Dipstick Cap

If you are draining the gas by tilting the mower, then you’ll need to unscrew the dipstick cap, but before unscrewing just make sure that your pan is well placed below the hole of the fuel tank, otherwise, all the fuel can scatter on your floor.

Now, unscrew the dipstick cap and hold it for a few minutes in the same position and let all the oil drain into the pan or container.

Some Important Points to Keep in Mind to Drain Gas from the Lawn Mower

1. Don’t forget to remove the spark plug to prevent your mower from an unexpected and unwanted start.
2. If you have just tried to start your mower, then wait until its engine cools down and make sure that you park your mower on a levelled or well-balanced surface otherwise it might move while draining.
3. Don’t forget to use protection in any case and don’t remove it until the work has done completely.
4. After you drain the gas, check again if there is no gas left in the fuel tank because if the gas doesn’t come out of it properly, it can spoil all your work.

In the End

These are some steps you can use to drain the bad gas from your lawn mower. But implementing these steps safely and correctly is very important; otherwise, you might damage your lawn mower and yourself too.

After draining, just make sure to use fresh fuel before using it again and don’t forget to use fuel stabilizer, it will keep your fuel fresh for a longer time, and you’ll not need to drain your mower after using it at least for two years.

Now you are good to go ahead and use your mower to wipe out the extra grass according to your need and make your garden healthy again.