The motor does have two plugs if that refers to twins. As far as removing the bowl drain,what is (lh side). When you refer to pop the top and clean , do you meam remove the air filter and clean with carb cleaner from the top.Will pick up carb cleaner today and get back with results. Thanks

I also have the impression this is an opposed twin. I recall Sears placed the "turbo cooled" decal on the older twins. The "governs up and down" is usually referred to as surging. This is usually caused by a lean fuel air mixture when the engine is idling. Idle fuel is discharged through a small hole located next to the throttle plate. If the fuel flow is restricted by fuel varnish or dirt, there is not quited enough fuel to keep the engine running. When the rpm drops off, the governor opens the throttle plate to try to compensate. When this occurs, fuel from the main discharge in the venturi enters the airstream and rpm picks up. With the air filter housing removed, try spraying some carburetor clean in all the small passages that are visible. Start the engine to see if the condition is corrected. If not, the carburetor may require disassembly for cleaning. If an intake gasket is leaking the suggestion by Tomplum may help find the leaking area. You might check to see if the intake bolts are loose. When liquid fuel is changed to vaporized fuel-in the intake manifold, there is a cooling effect. For this to occur, humidity, temperature and atmosphere conditions must be just right. Sometimes older cars developed carburetor icing even when temperatures were above freezing. The moisture came from the air, not the fuel. I remember my dad's pushmower (1953 Briggs) sometimes developed frost or ice on the intake manifold.

"Big looking brute" --------------------- yeah it is rather substantial for lawn mowing ... But I didnt buy it solely for lawn mowing purposes... I will say the guy had quiet a few of these things stashed away and if I had the choice I might have gotten the 22x model instead. Mostly because I felt I didnt really need to climb up onto a big @ss brute GT (just a brute GT would have sufficed) . For the first couple of days afterward - I felt a little bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger driving around on the Humvee of garden tractors. I think that the 22x probably would have done me nicely. However the size of the machine wouldnt have changed, just the height - So I went forward with the purchase on the 444. They sure are a rugged machine - this morning I was out there and started it up to move it. Letting it warm up a bit - I was amazed at that cast iron Kohler motor and how it idles so lowww - you can almost count the revolutions as it fires. (they dont make em like that anymore). "GT engineering for granted" ------------------------------- I do believe that as well... I dont think the engineers are designing tractors so much as they are designing something with a predetermined life time... Instead of selling quality product, parts and services - they sell junk that needs to be replaced every few years. Its almost as if these guys should be taken to a tractor junkyard and shown what heavy duty really looks like, as opposed to making Sears tractors with plastic bumpers (to add automotive styling). Its a shame we (USA) cant build cars of this quality. Id be willing to pay a bit more for a truck that didnt have to have its tranny changed out 3 times over the course of a 119k miles. (and it didnt even get worked hard ). Let us prey that the bankruptcy procedures remove the chaff from the wheat within GM and Chrysler. Dave

hello HU-407961074 I am not going to read through all the comments above. Hope you have tried their suggestions. This is long. The original part number is 394891. B&S changed the part number to 590781 when they switched to a chinese supplier. The retail price for this item is close to $60.00. All the cheap armature ignitions on the internet may work ok, but I don't know. The original ignition seldom fails. Mice destroyed your sparkplug wires. Another failure occurs when the key switch fails and voltage is introduced into the armature coil shut off wire. When the key is turned off, the shutoff wire should be connected to ground only. Any voltage will instantly destroy a new armature coil. Corrosion on the mounting post and mounting screws is another problem that will cause loss of ignition. A shorted shutoff wire will also cause a problem. When installing a new armature coil, clean the mounting post to insure a good connection. A small wire brush will work fine. Make sure there is no corrosion on the armature laminated stack. The mounting screws must be clean. Direction of installation is marked on the armature coil. With the armature pulled away from the flywheel, tighten the screws. Rotate the flywheel until the magnets are next to the armature. Install a spacer (.008 - .012) between the armature and the magnets. A business card will usually work. Loosen the screws and the armature will be attracted to the magnets. Tighten the screws. Remove the card by rotating the flywheel. Feed the ignition wires to the sparkplugs but do not install. Leave the shut off wire disconnected. Connect the sparkplug leads to an air gap ignition tester. The tester should have a .166 gap. Approximately 13,000 volts is needed to jump the .166 gap. If you do not have the proper tester, make your own. Connect the ignition tester to the engine block - not the spark plugs. NOTE: The glow light ignition testers do not always work well, so do not use. These will glow at a voltage too low to start a small engine. You can test for ignition now - even with the blower shroud removed. You will need to hold the oil filler in position so it does not blow out. Care is needed with a rotating flywheel. Look at the spark tester for ignition. A spark can be blue, amber, or invisible. A darken area may be needed when performing this test. Before connecting the shut off wire, you must insure the key switch is not feeding voltage and that the off position connects to ground. Install the blower shroud. Sparkplugs may have carbon or oil on the porcelain. This may form a carbon trail for the voltage to follow and you will never see a spark. A crack in the porcelain will also cause loss of spark. If your flywheel key is sheared, the engine may not start due to incorrect timing, however you should still have spark. If the engine does not start after ignition is restored and timing is restored, ask questions.