Sure, if you send me the model number of the engine. There are several 18 hp B&S engines and I don't do lookups. Walt Conner wconner5 at verizon dot net

"using catch can, test for fuel flow to carb inlet by cranking engine. Be careful of fire." I would point out this will do no good as the engine has a fuel pump built into the carb. As mentioned way back up on this very old thread, check the vacuum impulse line from the engine block to the fuel pump. This will be the bottom line, gas line is on the side IF you took the fuel pump apart, did you find and properly replace the 2 tiny springs? I can send you a Service Manual for the engine IF you like. Address below, put in proper format and remind me the engine model number and what you want. Walt Conner wconner5 at frontier dot com

If this engine has cylinders that are directly opposite each other, it is one of the opposed twins, a.k.a. "boxer engine". You might have a defective intake manifold gasket (piece of gasket shattered and missing) that is causing the dead cylinder to run too lean to develop any real power. You can test this with the engine idling by spraying a short burst of spray carb cleaner on the seam where the intake manifold joins to the head and listen for a corresponding increase in the idle RPM. If you hear an increase in RPM, there is a leak in that gasket.

Hi, I have a problem with starting my Lawn Tactor, I hope you can help. First some Specs: It is a (heap of junk - ha) B&S 18hp Twin I/C M/No: 422707 Type:1263 01 Code: 9312065A on a Murray Lawn Tractor. It doesn't appear to have any form of fuel pump unless it is part of the carb. (I believe it is gravity fed). A little history: For some time I had been having to leave the choke on just a little to make the thing run smoothly. The last time I used the machine I fiddled a little with the various adjusting screws on the carb. with no improvement, so I set them back to where they were. I figured I could live with the choke being out a little. My problem is that the last time I used the machine it died on me after about 1-2 hours mowing and simply would not start again. I figured it had simply overheated so I pushed it into the garage. Now (a week later) it doesn't want to start, or if it finally does (after lots & lots of starter motor winding), it is only for a brief period and it will run like a pig and backfires and soon dies. It smells strongly of fuel during starter motor winding. When I pull the plugs out after this (and having not started), they are wet with fuel. This makes me think there is a spark problem or a timing problem. I have tried the following: I have replaced the plugs, I know all 3 of the kill switches are working (I checked them with a multi-meter), I made sure the earth wire to the ig. coil wasn't shorting and was working properly with ig. key switch, I pulled the coil off and checked the winding with ohms on multi-meter (this was ok), The coil is approx. one millimeter away from flywheel which I think is fine, I have checked for spark from both leads (with spark test pen) and this seems to be working, I have removed the plugs and grounded them then wound it over and they both have spark (maybe a little weak ?? not sure), I asked a mower shop guy if this thing runs points and as I suspected it is electronic timing (so I don't believe it has anything I can adjust), I even pulled the flywheel off to check there was not a sheared key or something there that may explain the timing being out (key and keyway was fine), I tried starting it without the air filter (just in case some blockage - no help but desperate), I have sprayed some engine start spray directly into each of the cyclinders through spark plug holes and after some winding got it to start and got a "Really Cool" backfire. I am suspecting the coil is "Kangaroo-Edward" ("Roo-Ted" for non Australians) but do not know how else to test it (other than how I have stated above) or whether the spark it is putting out is as strong as it should be. (I thought of letting the wife hold the spark plug lead end and depending on her reaction it might of given me an idea of how strong the spark was - ha ha - but I thought better of it). I didn't want to buy a new coil if it wasn't the problem. I don't believe it is a fuel problem due to the fact the plugs are wet. Am I wrong in my deduction of it being Spark/Timing and what else can I do??? Please help me Fellow Lawn Tractor Guru's, before I just set fire to it and roll it down a hill or beat it with a stick. I know this won't fix it but boy would it make me feel gooooooood!!! (I have read through many of the other peoples problems on your forum and I felt they were all a little different to mine - Please help!) Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. P.S. By the way, I noticed a few people in your forum having a problem with the charging of the battery. I too have suffered this problem in the past. I thought I would mention that when I pulled the flywheel off, that the amount of dirt/dust build up inside of the flywheel and around the stator was amazing. It was packed in solid and coating the magnet faces and stator faces. I hosed all of this away, cleaned the stator faces, blew it all dry and sprayed it all with CRC/RP7 before putting it back together. I wonder if this may be a major part of the problem. I don't know if it has fixed the problem yet because my machine is not running, but I reckon it can only help. I hope this helps.