Briggs and Stratton 14.6 hp Intek won't start after sitting idle for 8 months

[Murph]

HI,

I have a practically brand new B&S Intek that I bought last year and put on my lawn tractor to use solely for plowing snow in the winter. Only used it 3-4 times then ran it out of gas and it sat all summer and fall until recently. Now it won't start.

It seems like it's perpetually flooded so I thought the float was sticking as the starter turns great and there's a good spark. There's plenty of oil in the engine as well. Cleaned float mechanism-no help. Swapped float with identical float from another engine-no help. So now I'm looking for help:)

What can go wrong when an engine sits idle for a while?

Oh, and yes I did put gas in the tank.

Thanks in advance for your help.

John

[Don Fearn]

I think it was "Murph" who stated:

Dirty carbie. Disassemble, dunk in carbie solvent and reassemble.

It happens all the time with motorcycles in cold climates.

Next time it's going to be put away, put Stabil in the gas and run it for a while before storing it.

-Don

[Murph]

I'm back, still at my wit's end with this thing. Brought my father in in law (one time mechanic) and neighbor (rebuilds Model As) into this and now they're at their wit's end also.

We've done the following with no success: Removed, disassembled and cleaned the carburetor. Replaced the carburetor with an identical model from an old engine I have laying around. Changed the spark plug. Changed the oil. Changed the gas. Checked plug for spark (it's there). Tried starting with starter fluid. We can get it to start (with a lot of fluid) but it doesn't run for more than a second or two. Tried starting it with throttle in every imaginable position. Used every imaginable curse word to motivate this bastage.

Best I can get is a few good backfires and maybe second or two of running (only with starter fluid).

Any more suggesti> I think it was "Murph" who stated:

[Stormin Mormon]

Is this a vertical shaft mower, or a horizontal snow blower? What's the HP? What's the numbers on the end of the motor cover?

At the moment, what comes to mind is timing thrown off, and leaking compression.

[Don Fearn]

I think it was "Murph" who stated:

There are three things you need for an internal combustion engine to work:

AIR

SPARK

FUEL

Check for ALL of them; not just spark.

Oh yeah, there's a fourth:

TIMING

The spark has to happen at the RIGHT time, or it won't work.

Actually, there's a fifth too:

COMPRESSION

Usually an engine can run with low compression, but never well. So check that out too . . . .

-Don

-- When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty