My Honda HRR216SDA mower was surging and black some was coming out of the muffler. All signs pointed to a dirty or bad carburetor. I had seen videos of people taking the carburetor apart, cleaning it and putting it back together but i figured this was out of my league. A new carburetor with the gaskets was only $40 so i went ahead and ordered one.

I had the diagram on how to install the gaskets and the carburetor. So i installed the new one and tried to start the mower. Mower would not start... Not only that, but gas started leaking out of the carburetor and air filter. I took the carburetor out again and put it back in place (thinking i made a mistake with one of the gasket when putting it back in place or maybe i didn't screw it up tight enough). The carburetor is still leaking. I crank the engine 3-4 times to try to start it and nothing happens. Then after maybe 10-15 seconds the gas starts leaking out. I had someone look at it and he told me it could be the float. Now i am kind of scared to take the carburetor apart and make things worse.

Could a brand new carburetor be leaking like that?