tiller repair question

[ronnny]

I was gave a tiller that was in a flood i was told. Drained the water and gas out of it and there wqas a lot of water in it. Put in some used oil. While i had the carb and tank off i cleaned the tank and fresh gas in it. It is like a side draft carb with no bowl. Butterfly and all works good. Tried several plugs i have around with it not even trying to fire. Took off the flywheel cover and cleaned the flywheel and checked the gap on the coil. Now have plenty of spark. Still will not fire. Again took off the cover and took off the starter pawl to look at the sheer pin/keyway. It was good so put back together. Do not have a compression tester but feels good (i know what you are thinking) Take off the head and clean around the valve seats and cylinder looks good. Still not even acting like it wants to fire. It is pulling gas up from the tank. even f you remove the plug and add gas there it does not even spit and sputter. It is a old 4 hp briggs.

 

What am i missing? i will borrow a compression tester monday. How much should i get?

 

Thanks for any reply

[Guest 510kamikazifreak]

Try the power portal for some hints

[Iowa Mark]

If you've got a nice big blue spark at the plug and dribbling a little gas in the hole won't make it pop, compression is about the only thing left. A Briggs is as basic as any engine in the world. I've seen them that could be started with no carb on them at all. Just what gets dumped in the spark plug hole. Kind of a painful way to mow the yard, but if you have lots of time......