Identifying the engine would be a good start.

Try priming the carb with a couple teaspoons worth of gas and see if it tries to fire.
I wouldn't rely on WD-40.

hi there, thanks for getting back to me!
it's a Craftsman Eager1.
engine model #143.006700

I tried shooting some gas into the carb intake and no go :(

Headgasket could be a good guess. Possibly a stuck valve or sheared flywheel key. When pulling the engine over, does it feel as though there is some compression or any kick back?

That's a Tecumseh LEV120-361501A engine.

I'm trying to look up info about that engine, but my internet is real flaky right now.

Tomplums question about compression IS pertinent.

Looking at the carb-
Take the brass nut off the bottom.
Make sure all the holes in it are clear.

Thanks everyone, I'm pretty confident I got the carb good and clean, even the bowl jet. I pulled off the flywheel and I believe the key looks okay maybe a bit twisted but the flywheel was lined up on the crankshaft as it should. I haven't had the luxury of having anyone around to pull the cord while I had my thumb over the sparkplug hole but hope to do that soon.

As far a compression, any ideas on how much PSI it should be?

Random question but as I was turning the flywheel I noticed oil would come out the oil hole ( I had removed the oil filler tube) is that normal. I mean I understand as the piston moved up and down so will oil but was surprised how much oil would continuously come out.

Yes, you don't turn the engine with the oil fill cap off. But, there's a big difference in one that has an extended oil fill tube and one that has the old style with the short fill tube. Either way, oil will be expelled with the cap off if you really pull the starter.
WD-40 is not a motor fuel - inject a little gasoline into the air intake to fire it.

If it has spark, is in time, the throttle spring hasn't popped off - testing with a shot of fuel or carb spray in the plug hole & it still won"t fire -likely you have an issue pertaining to compression. What seems a little unclear at this point is that the flywheel key is as it should be. In regards to compression, just a note on whether it seemed to pull differently than before should suffice. If you pull it and it feels as it it pulls much easier- likely a valve is being held open such as from a loose seat. If it feels about the same , my guess is it has blown out a chunk of head gasket. Either way, the cylinder head comes off. If you are wrong, you are out the price of a gasket.

This might sound blasphemous, but often the gasket isn't damaged, and it goes right back on for another 10 years.

Blasphemy! Best keep the shades drawn in your workshop or the Permatex Police will get ya... ;)

Welp, I couldn't get anywhere with the mower and sold it to a guy....It had very low compression and didn't have time to dig into it anymore, needed to get the leaves done!

Thanks though for all help, I'm sure I'll need you again :)

Even though this problem has been dealt with, I'll add my angle here in case someone checks in later with a similar question. My Tecumseh-powered Craftsman mower was a beast to start for a number of years. The manual said depress the rubber button three times for a cold start. This never worked. The other day, I just depressed the button once and held it for three or five seconds. The engine fired on the first pull. The next week, same story. While it's good to clean the carb and the plug, etc., I suggest the simpler approach may let you avoid all that and get right to the happy task of battling your yard instead of your mower.

The engine also probably had compression release which made the compression check meaningless.

OK same engine. was running and quit. gas or starter fluid directly into the cyl no help. it won't even hit like it wants to start. Is there a simple way to check the mag?