The most common causes for this are a float that is saturated or not set level / a leaking inlet valve or seat defect. When you install the inlet needle, you may note that some have the little retaining wire that seems to direct itself out a tad sideways. If that is the case- install it away from the housing to prevent binding. If this has a fuel tank under the hood, it is also possible for the fuel to come in through a defect or mis-assembled pump as well.

Walt...Thanks for the help, I got the thing running finally it took it a while must of had to prime the carb but it ran...So I spent about 2 hrs adjusting the governor through trial and error and it seems OK but I am not sure it is quite right yet. I saw you had posted some instructions on other threads and thought you might be able to help. Here is what I did... 1. First adjusted the idle adjustment for idle condition. 2. Set throttle cable position based on the idle position allowin gthe "cam bracket" to interface with the governor arm pin. 3. Now the fun part...Throttle full on, I rotated the governor arm (into block) counter clockwise and rotated the linkage arm clockwise and locked into place. Again, this seemed to provide the best results but just not quite right. Any help would be appreciated. The modle is a 461707-0143 20hp opposed Briggs.

Thanks for all the feedback. I did contact the Tulsa Engine folks for advice and Matt said the 331877 could be a direct replacement for my current (dead) 311777. I looked at the IPL's for both engines (311700 vs. 331800) and some PN's are the same, others are different. The main parts (sump, head, crank, flywheel, rod, piston, cam, valves) are all different which makes me nervous. Others (starter, magneto, fuel pump, alternator, regulator, wiring harness) are the same so maybe it is okay. Regardless, I think I'll still call Tulsa and talk via phone vs. just email so I can get more feedback. Again, at the end of the day, if the crankshaft size is the same and the bolt pattern is the same, I want to take advantage of the bigger HP unit if possible. I want to make sure too that I get the right engine. Any more advice to share is appreciated. Again, thanks for taking your time to help me out.

a few more things now from last night: (sitting in seat) 1. rh cylinder shows spark but weak, lh cylinder no spark (as far as I see) 2. cranks like no tomorrow and wont fire 3. plenty of fuel in the intake and enough that is splashing up and out the carb while trying to start 4. pulled pulse line off while cranking and fuel pump pulsing as it should, I did not pull line off the engine side yet to verify 5. the spark plugs are wet with fuel and black moist, think its oil but doesn't have oil consistency (fouled already?) 6. fuel is fresh, been thru 8-9 tanks this year already, fuel filter is new, air filter new. 7. governor has been removed, cleaned all ports, cleaned out with wire. 8. spraying start fluid / carb cleaner does not pop engine off. when I move the throttle cable to the lowest setting, the inner carb flapper does not close unless I grab the black dowel on the engine mounted linkages and pop it down manually, then when I move the throttle cable even 1/16 of an inch it pops wide open. The choke does nothing to help the starting, open, closed, doesn't matter. 9. removed engine mounted linkages and tightened but did nothing (still loose to me and when it is to the black down, the linkage bends and wont push it down) last night I got it to chug and then it died and blew white smoke puffs out the top of the carb. (I was holding the governor flap closed with one hand while son in seat cranking Here are my thoughts and shoot holes in it if need be: I think my magneto needs adjustment (I used business card for gap, now I hear loose leaf paper folded in half, I should just get a gap gauge), then I really believe I have a issue in the linkages mounted to engine for throttle and auto gov. I know it works on there own but I have no throttle use, I throttle up or down when engine running and it does nothing. ****if pics of my engine will help I will get them on here asap***