I have a Toro lawnmower with a 6.75 Briggs & Stratton 190 cc motor on it and it continues to sputter when it is idle. I have changed everything

[jdtm]

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Old head gasket or new one, this thread, while interesting, is becoming tangential to helping Paul's Toro get his mower running smoothly. On that front, while checking the the governor by manually operating the throttle valve as I had suggested earlier, try lowering the speed of the engine. That will increase the vacuum in the intake manifold and further reduce fuel requirements. So if there is an air leak or excess fuel delivery, it should become worse. While doing this test, note the exhaust, which you can use to help differentiate between rich and lean. The classic marker of an engine running rich is black smoke. Even if it is not running rich enough for black smoke, the exhaust will have an unpleasant "smoggy" smell since it is emitting a lot of unburned hydrocarbons. And if you do have to decide about the head gasket because you took the head off (or just remove and inspect the spark plug), you will see loose sooty carbon.

While I am quoting proverbs, and this time will be my last comment on the reuse of head gaskets, another one states that "[t]here are none so blind as those who will not see." Post graduate diploma or not, if I have never had a head gasket failure from a reused head gasket and apparently TobyU has had similar experience, you are simply denying facts if you will not admit that a head gasket in good condition on a B&S L-head engine is likely to be good enough to work. True it will not seal as well as a new one, but it does not need to seal that well.

 

[Rivets]

Toby, you are free to do as you feel is best for you, but that does not mean that is what is best for everyone. I’m sorry that you feel those who don’t do it your way are money grabbers and only want to make an extra buck off the uninformed. That being said, I’ll bet that the top pros on this forum have “paid it forward “ to far more customers than you realize. Do you feel we are willing to provide free advice because we looking for payback in the future? We do it because it is part of our nature to help those who need it or educate those wanting to learn. Even though I am not in your tiny town, thinking you are better than others who are not doing it your way, I have more work than I can handle and I sleep very well at night knowing I have helped someone out doing it my way. It’s your decision to bash those who work in this industry and I pray you are always smarter than everyone else, so you don’t have to ask for help.

 

[slomo]

The fact is that they don't need much pressure to stay sealed enough to run well. I could literally hold a head onto the block with my hand and start one.

Torque spec is only like 120 to 140 inch lbs. They don't need hardened studs and parallel ground flat washers LOL. This ain't the space shuttle either (Taryl).

 

[bertsmobile1]

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Old head gasket or new one, this thread, while interesting, is becoming tangential to helping Paul's Toro get his mower running smoothly.

Yes you are quite correct.
However where & when bad practice is posted it needs to be called out lest bad practice becomes common practice .
There is already way too much of this on You Tube & Face Book
If people know it is bad practice yet decide to save $ 25 then that is their decision

 

[volt]

Paul,

eMail the picture to me and I will shrink it down with Photoshop.

George

I'm having similar problem. What I discovered yesterday is when I open 'fuel shut off' valve, and disconnect from 'fuel filter', only a small trickle of fuel comes out. I suspect the valve is not opening. Odered new one and should be arriving today.