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I have a Saber riding mower with a 16hp single cylinder Briggs. Normally when I start it I get light smoke for a bit till it burns off. I was mowing and it died. When I tried to restart I got heavy smoke and it wouldn't start. I took the head of to check the gasket and it seems ok. The is a light worn spot on the bottom of the cylinder but no gouging like a broken ring. Any thoughts on what my problem could be?

Also I noticed the oil smells like gas.

Sounds like the float needle didn’t shut off the fuel entering the carb. Excess fuel ran through the carb into the cylinder, into the crankcase. On startup this mixture was being burned off. Time to do an oil change and have the carb cleaned and rebuilt.

Rivets said:

Sounds like the float needle didn’t shut off the fuel entering the carb. Excess fuel ran through the carb into the cylinder, into the crankcase. On startup this mixture was being burned off. Time to do an oil change and have the carb cleaned and rebuilt.

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I might add that I mowed one trip around the yard before it died

What I posted still applies.

Rivets said:

What I posted still applies.

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Ok, got the shutoff, oil and filter. When the new head gasket gets here we'll see if that fixes it. Thanks!

RRusk said:

Ok, got the shutoff, oil and filter. When the new head gasket gets here we'll see if that fixes it. Thanks!

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It's not a head gasket issue. It's a filthy carb issue. Specifically as Rivets said, the needle and seat. Carb needle is flooding the cylinder which runs into the oil sump.

slomo

Slomo, he knows it’s not the head. Just had the head off thinking he had a blown head gasket. Now he doing it right by waiting for a new gasket and then completing a carb cleaning and rebuild.