Your problem is the carburator, the carb is flooding out probably because the N valve is stuck open. Take the carb off and clean it out with carb cleaner, thin wire and compressed air. Tnen reassemble and try it out.

Re using head gaskets is not a good idea. A sealant will not hold up under the heat and pressure. New head gaskets are crushed as the bolts are torqued down and do not return to their original shape when released. Replacements are inexpensive and readily available. As far as the carbon is concerned, some buildup is to be expected.

Ok , I have I believe to be a 2011 Craftsman riding mower with a 48 inch cutting deck and a 24hp Intek V-twin Briggs & Stratton engine that was given to me 3/25/18 of this year. Engine model #446677 0463 E1. Previous owner said engine started backfiring while mowing then died. Since I had done auto mechanic work for several years and the mower still looked almost new I accepted it. Got it home and charged up the battery and give it a whirl. The engine completed about 4 or 5 revolution’s and it backfired. So did a little research on this issue. Found out it could be several things. So I removed the flywheel and checked for a bent flywheel keyway. It was fine. Next I pulled the valve covers and what do you know. Sitting on the mower on the left side it had dropped the pushrod out of the lower exhaust tapper and sucked it into the engine. The valve guide and spring looked fine and were not stuck as I could compress the spring and valve without any hard spots. On the intake valve it had about .0012 clearance and the pushrod was barely hanging on. The right side of the engine was almost as bad finding both pushrods barely hanging on and not dropping out of the tappers. I have tried to use a telescoping magnet and run it inside the engine just to the right of where the pushrod sets on the lobe. I’m not sure if the pushrod is steel or aluminum? Anyway no luck from that point of entry. Next I removed the oil filler tube and went from that angle but the magnet only grabbed the crankshaft and wouldn’t allow me to move the magnet all around in the crankcase to retrieve the stray pushrod. It got dark on me so I had to stop for the night. Tomorrow I’m going to drain the oil and remove the drain valve and give it a try that way and after the oil is drained I had thought about jacking up the opposite side of the mower so that the pushrod might be loose in the crankcase and slide or roll to the side of the crankcase where the filler tube and oil drain valve are and maybe get lucky and be able to retrieve it. What I would like to know is the exhaust pushrod steel or aluminum and do you have any suggestions that wouldn’t require the engine to have to be torn down ! I sure could use a engine repair manual showing how to separate the engine case if needed to extract the rougue pushrod. Anything you can suggest or can me to download would be awesome. Thanks Tim F.

Capmbell35, Thanks for the post!! Especially the part on the valve adjustment. I own 3 Craftsman tractors and was having power issues on all of them. So far I adjusted valves on 2 of them and they now run like NEW!. MY 18.5 plowed through 5' high cow grass like it was not even there and no more bogging down. I too maintain my tractors very well and all have been VERY good machines. (FYI, the new craftsman tractors have lost their quality according to many reviews (2013)). The valve adjustment was simple (15 minutes). I would suggest adjusting the valves while engine is warm-hot. Adjusting procedures on the internet neglect to mention this. I include a link on how to adjust...... You saved me tons of money and time in trouble-shooting! Thank you again for posting and details on the fixes!!! Here is a link that might be useful: How to adjust valves on the B&S 18.5 Engine