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I have searched the forum and found many similar posts but not exact and i have tried many of the recommendations to other posts with no help so i am posting my problem and will try not to leave any details out, any help will be greatly appreciated.

Have a 2005 JD L111 with Briggs and straton 20hp intek engine, bought used and it has ran fine all summer long until the last time i mowed when it died. It would only start and run with the choke on, but not run good. I found that the fuel solenoid was not working and replaced that. Now it will start but only run at idle and blows white smoke. i pulled the carb off and cleaned it, put it back on, same problem. So i got a rebuild kit and new float and pulled the carb off again and cleaned and rebuilt with new needle, float and gaskets. Also changed the fuel filter and put in new battery. Guess what, same problem.....If i start it and pinch the fuel line off just right the engine will run perfect, let off on the fuel line and the carb floods and runs like crap.

Other than buy a new carb i dont know what else to do...It has good compression, good spark, good fuel and fuel pump. air filter is new.

Any help or suggest?????

Post the model, type, and code off the engine so we know what engine that you have. Could still be a carb problem, but without knowing the specs of the engine it will be hard to pin down.

It is a Briggs and Straton Intek 20 hp, 406577-0139-E1 is that the number you are asking for?

these numbers are also on the engine 050511-YG

check the dc voltage going to the solenoid a lack of voltage can cause the solenoid not to work properly causing the carb to flood check with your parts dealer for the correct voltage

i will check the voltage but isn't the solenoid either open or closed? Its not a fuel regulator is it? If i unplug the solenoid while it's running it will die which tells me that it closes with lack of power?? Is it possible that i got the wrong solenoid and it is letting to much fuel in. When i bought the new one the guy just held it up to my old one and said it looked like the same one....Which it did.

I would say that your float needle valve is either sticking open or their is dirt in between it and the seat. I would replace the needle and seat. I have attached a manual that should help you also. Your problem does not sound like a fuel solenoid problem, as that is normally a lean mixture condition.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12502267/B&S Service Manuals/03_272144VanguardTwinCylinderOHV.pdf

thanks for the reply and the manual, none of the carbs in the manual are the one i have but there is some good info there. As i stated above, yesterday i had the carb disassembled, cleaned and installed a new float and needle so i don't think it's dirty. From what i can tell there is only one way to install the float and needle....this carb has no adjustments on it and from what i can tell the only way to remove the jets is to remove the welch plugs?? But i sprayed cleaner through every orifice i could find and none were plugged.

Are you sure that the float level is correct? When the carb is inverted, it should be level. Also, next next time you have the carb off, with the float bowl off, invert it and see if you can blow air through the fuel inlet with your mouth. The needle should not allow any air to go through. It would not be the first time I have seen a new needle and seat fail. Also, when you say "blows white smoke" is that all the time, both idle and high speed, only when you accelerate, under load? White smoke is normally an indication of water in the fuel. A rich fuel condition would be indicated by black smoke. We may have to look at other possibilities than the carb.

I will pull the carb off again and check the float, and will try blowing through it and see if the needle is sealing properly and report back.

I did find the parts bag that the solenoid came in and verified that the part number is correct.

It blows white smoke when i start it, it won't run above idle. At idle it runs bad, and if i try to advance the throttle it will die. Also it never blew any smoke until the solenoid stopped working and I replaced it. It ran perfectly up until that point. I am thinking it is something that I induced when i changed the solenoid and cleaned the carb. But this carb is so simple i can't see how i messed it up???? the needle that was in the carb was plastic with a rubber tip and the one that came in the rebuild kit was brass with rubber tip also in the rebuild kit were to round pieces of foam??? I can't imagine these were to go in the carb some where but i also don't know why they were in the kit at all??? Any thoughts?

thanks again for trying to help.

699728 fuel solenoid. 699814 carb kit. These are the part numbers that you should have gotten for rebuilding the carb. I don't think you are getting too much fuel, but you are not getting enough fuel. The round pieces of foam go around the throttle and choke shafts, to keep dirt from entering between the shaft and carb body. When you check the carb, check to see if the fuel solenoid is working properly, drawing the plunger in all the way. To do this apply 12V to the two connections and the plunger should pull back. I'm also including a different manual, sorry I gave you the wrong one, this may contain your carb.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12502267/B&S Service Manuals/05_273521TwinCylinderOHV.pdf

Forgot the manual.

The fuel solenoid is working, i checked it before I installed it and about 10 times since then. turn the key on and off and the plunger goes in and out. The old solenoid did not go in and out, so I know it was bad. So unless it is supposed to do more than that the new one is working fine. And yes i do have the correct parts, i have the illustrated parts manual for the engine from B&S online. thanks for checking on those part numbers.

I am not sure that i am following you on the not getting enough fuel theory...As I mentioned above when I pinch off the fuel line and restrict the fuel getting to the carb it runs perfect, when i release the fuel line it floods and won't run. You can visibly see fuel in the intake of the carb with the air filter removed, when the fuel line is not restricted. So if I restrict the fuel going to the carb and it runs good how can the problem be that it is not getting enough fuel???? I am not totally doubting you, just not following this theory.

thanks for the new manual. I have not had a chance to check the float and needle yet, to many other honey do's... :smile:

getting closer on the manual, my carb is a single not a double barrel, try this link to see on Briggs and Stratton web site.

Customer Support | Briggs & Stratton

when page opens scroll down for parts manual

the carb part# is 699807

I am confused by symptoms that indicate two different problems. Fuel in carb, pinching off fuel line, rough idle, all indicate too much fuel. Float setting, bad needle seat, float bowl gasket not installed right, would all be causes. Problem I have is that this condition should give us black smoke due to a very rich fuel mixture.
Blowing white smoke on startup, is normally an indicator of a lean fuel mixture caused by water or moisture in the fuel system. Please add recheck the bowl gasket to the list of things to check. We have to solve the excess fuel problem first. I know the type of carb you have and not getting a good seal on that type of bowl gasket is a common problem.

ok, i will check that also. I know that gasket is a pain in the ***. I will check it all again hopefully tomorrow and report back. thanks

White smoke? Or blue? Is it thick(lots)? It could be a coincidence and you have two issues pop up at once.

White smoke usually means that you're burning coolant. Since this is an air cooled engine, that isn't possible. Thick blue smoke, on the other hand, is burning oil. And this can mean either a bad valve seal, or a cracked piston ring.

Just to update everyone I still have not figured this one out. I did pull the carb back off and checked that the needle is seating properly, it is. Checked that the float is also installed correctly and I installed a new float bowl gasket paying special attention to it when I reassembled. Still runs the same.

To recap the mower will still run perfectly if i restrict the fuel by pinching the fuel line. So i don't believe that i have a cracked piston or valve problem. Again the engine runs with no problems if i restrict the fuel by pinching off the fuel line. Somehow to much fuel is getting through the carb. So i guess it is off to buy a new carb and hope it fixes the problems.

Good thing it is winter and the grass is not growing :smile:

drhess said:

Just to update everyone I still have not figured this one out. I did pull the carb back off and checked that the needle is seating properly, it is. Checked that the float is also installed correctly and I installed a new float bowl gasket paying special attention to it when I reassembled. Still runs the same.

To recap the mower will still run perfectly if i restrict the fuel by pinching the fuel line. So i don't believe that i have a cracked piston or valve problem. Again the engine runs with no problems if i restrict the fuel by pinching off the fuel line. Somehow to much fuel is getting through the carb. So i guess it is off to buy a new carb and hope it fixes the problems.

Good thing it is winter and the grass is not growing :smile:

Click to expand...

Did you ever solve this problem? I have the same thing going on... Very confused as to what to do.

I missed this thread before. You have good help available with Rivets and others, but I will add a comment. In the old days of carburetion it was possible to install a fuel pump which delivered too much pressure and would force the inlet needle to open ( I remember 3 lbs for car), but one would expect black , rich smoke, Have you read the plug(s) colors? And when you say pinch off lets engine run perfectly that is static, or sitting without load (unless you are plastic man). So running perfect is stationary? As you know the governor opens the throttle under load (power) and demands richer fuel for a short time, so you may not really know everything that is going on. Float setting is important and I have no experience with this carb. But is there a spec for full droop of float (as when bowl is filling after demand) controlled by a bendable tang, and/or an inlet needle shut off spec? Both taken by careful measurements usually to the float lid (with gasket in place) to the float? Is inlet manifold sealing ok?

Okay I know this thread is old, very old, but hopefully this will help somebody else that has this problem, and I know there are many people that do. None of the above suggestions are the problem with this carburetor. From the symptoms you describe and my experience with this poorly designed carburetor, what is happening is the main jet down there in the middle of the nylon tube has an O ring around it. This o ring shrinks and let's fuel past it, and the fuel is no longer metered by the main Jet- hence the flooding. The solution is to get another main jet and that will come with a new o-ring as you cannot buy the O-ring separate. I guarantee you your problem will be solved once you do this.

The Briggs Engines with the Nikki 2 Bbl. carb. also experience this issue you mentioned, just letting you know the O-rings are available separately ( you will have to spec. it first )

https://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/123/3546/=16ao1yh

https://ruclip.com/video/I_k1ystbSW...und-on-briggs-and-stratton-intec-engines.html

https://www.mcmaster.com/# Go to the search bar and enter o-rings,.. find the metric of viton material

Yup.
What he ^^ said