I think it's a shame so many people are making fun of this poor juliez. Not everyone has the good fortune to learn engines and stuff. At least give them credit for mowing their own grass. That being said, has it occurred to anyone that the spark plug might be covered by a plastic cowling? I was at Home Depot today to get parts for my powerwasher, which also uses the Honda GCV160. And I happened to notice in passing that the mowers using that engine do, in fact, have a big plastic cowling around the engine. For an inexperienced person who does not understand the basics of engines, it would be easy to not be able to find where the spark plug is. Out of sight, out of mine! My advice, if you're still looking for it, is to unscrew the plastic covering on the engine. At the front, you will see a little white cylinder sticking out. The spark plug wire pops on top of that. As others have said, you may need to change the spark plug. That is as simple as getting a spark plug wrench, which is a little $5 device that looks like a penny roller that you stick on top of the spark plug and turn to remove it. Remember, righty-tightie, lefty-loosie.

Do you ever tilt the mower up on one side or hang it up to save space? If you do, you may be raising the exhaust side which will let oil contaminate the air filter. Gas usually gets into the oil when the carburetor continues to allow fuel in after shutting off the mower. The carb floods and gas gets into the oil. Any time you pick up one side of the mower, it has to be the carb side. That's why they always put the oil fill tube on the side opposite the carb, so you can drain the old oil without causing a problem. If your pleated air filter is oily, the engine may not run, or it may run 'rich', which will produce carbon and cause the oil to smell like gas. The Honda carb also has a drain plug bolt, so you don't have to remove the fuel bowl to flush it out. The oily air filter might be why its not running. Maybe you are the only one who knows how it got oily.

SO you have been using this all along? Fuel fresh and water free?

I don't know about shooting a flame into a gas engine on the intake side, but maybe it works. The best thing is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Use Sta-Bil '360' 'Marine' in your OPE gas cans, including 2-cycles, and if you really want to go the extra mile, add Marvel Mystery Oil at 1 to 2 oz/gal for 4-cycle and 2 to 3 oz/gal for 2-cycles, in addition to the regular mix oil. All engines love the stuff and a really rich mix of it (1:1) is the best fogging oil before storage.