Carb=Carp

I know there have been threads on this before, but I'm not in the mood to look for them at the moment. My gen II carb is dumping gasoline out of the jet tube like nobody's business (even if the petcock is only open a trickle, and it is starting to hack me off in the worst way. The engine won't start now, try as I might, down hill you can hear the engine trying to start, but there's no compression, and the tip of the spark plug is black with oil. I've tried adjusting the idler screw, but it's not helping anymore. I am at my wits end!

Should I spray some carb cleaner into the carb; disassemble the carb and rebuild it; or should I just order a new carb?

Thanks for the ideas. I am gonna have a look at it when I get some more time, hopefully tonight. It wasn't having this problem until a few weeks after I got the engine, and it was easily remedied. Last time I opened up the carb, the float was fine (nothing but air inside). I'll be sure to tell you how it goes.

All fixed. The original gasket between the bowl and the top half of the carb was deteriorating, there was a crack around it that showed daylight, and some bits of it got into the little valve that the float actuates, I'm not sure what it's called. Needless to say that the poppyseed-sized bits of rubber kept the valve from closing completely and thereby caused the carb to dump gasoline everywhere.

I cleaned out the float-actuated valve and made a new gasket out of rubber-fiber gasket material. The engine now runs like new, and the carburetor no longer leaks gas. I am now a happy camper once more. What's more, I can now tell people that I fixed a carburetor on my first attempt, and it was the first time that I ever actually disassembled a carb, of any kind, EVER. No missing pieces, either. Yay!