have an 18hp b&s opposed cylinder twin that is not getting gas to plugs. carb is actually getting plenty, but none to plugs. can crank engine, and see gas in carb, can pull plugs and they are dry. can squirt gas on plugs, and will start and run, but this is the only way to start engine. engine runs great, with no oil usage, and no smoke when running, but after first startup, blows blackish grey smoke. fuel pump is pumping plenty of gas to carb. anyone ever had this problem?

butterflys and all work right?

butterflies and float and all linkage works fine. when cranking, you can see gas in carb, and it actually floods itself because none is going to plugs. carb bowl is filling with gas, but plugs are bone dry. can remove one plug and squirt in a little gas, but this is the only to get it started. checked all gaskets to make sure no air leaks, and all gaskets are fine and bolted down tight. what next?

well, maybe compression, sticking valve maybe? it starts and runs fine on throughout after you put gas on the plugs? or just doesn't run afterwards, just for a couple secs maybe?

after you squirt a little gas on plug, it runs great with no misses, and will keep running on its own until you turn key off. i can put gas on plug, start engine, and then mow 2 acre yard like normal. runs great with lots of power, uses no oil, and does not smoke. just needs a little gas on plug to start.

so you choke it, etc? and still nothing, wierd for the plugs to be absolutely dry.

so you choke it, etc? and still nothing, wierd for the plugs to be absolutely dry.
choke is closing carb off completely, fuel is reaching carb as normal, carb fills with fuel while cranking as normal, but will run batt down trying to start. it wont even try to fire. remove plugs, both are dry, squirt in a little gas, replace plugs, engine turns over twice and starts right off ready to mow. i would think intake valves stuck, but then it would miss or not even run. i would think bad compression, but does not smoke after gas smoke clears up, and does not use any oil at all. i'm stumped on this one. its like intake manifold is plugged shut, but it is not, or it wouldnt run long after getting started.

make sure the carbs on tight, gaskets good and all.

If this is a down draft carb (which it should be), you need to remove the drain plug from the side of the carb and remove the main jet. Clean the jet really good with carb cleaner and spray plenty of carb cleaner through the hole where the jet screws in. After that, put the jet back in, replace the drain plug and she should fire up and run without a problem.

removed main jet and cleaned with carb cleaner, sprayed in hole where jet goes, and all is clean. just had carb completely rebuilt not long ago. all mounting gaskets good and bolts tight. after cleaning and replacing main jet, engine fired right up, but if you let it set for ten minutes, dilema repeats. no gas to plugs, and no start.

yeah i forgot about the jet.......havn't owned an apposed in quite a while..... well since that worked....for a while. does the fuel lines have a filter in line..... a good one. may be getting trash in it.

Ok, if it runs for a while then shuts off, you need to clean the secondary jet. You need to remove the 3 screws that hold on the air filter housing and then remove the 4 screws that hold the two halves of the carb together. But before you begin, a little word of advice....put the choke on before you start taking the screws out. This way if you accidently drop a screw the choke plate will probably catch it a prevent it from dropping down in the intake. After you seperate the two halves of the carb, you should see a tiny little flat head "screw" on the right side of the carb if you are facing the front of the mower. Remove this little sucker and clean it good with carb cleaner, then clean all the other passages around it, and make sure you can spray carb cleaner through everything with no problems. After that, put everything back together and it should run and stay running.

If you get it to stay running, I would recommend buying a can of "Sea Foam" from the the local autoparts store and dumping some of that in the gas tank. The Sea Foam will clean and lube the carb and should make it run much better.

One other little trick about these carbs....if you get everything cleaned and it still wants to run a little rough, you can adjust the choke cable so that the choke is somewhere between 1/8-1/4 engaged. It's a dirty little trick, but sometimes it's all you can do to make a fixed jet carb run correctly.

BTW, do you have a fuel filter installed? If so, when was the last time it was replaced?

does have new fuel filter, and tank is clean as new. once i spray gas on plugs it will stay running, and i can mow whole 2 acre yard with no problems at all. if i shut it off, it will start right back up, but if i let it set for as much as 10 minutes, i have to spray gas on plugs again to get it running again. there is no problem with getting it to stay running after i wet plugs, but if i dont wet them with gas, it wont start at all.

Does this carb have a metering screw on the front?

the only things external is the idle speed screw, and on the front in the middle on the lower half of carb is what i guess to be the air metering screw. not sure how many turns to set at, but i also took this out and cleaned it. point on it looks fine. sprayed plenty of carb cleaner through hole and replaced setting at 2 and 1/2 turns out. this was set while engine was running and this is where it leveled out at so i left it. never had one to do this before, so i appreciate very much the help you have given. maybe together we will figure this out finally.

One thing I forgot to tell you to check last time....look for a pin hole in the fuel line, especially if it is routed near the cylinder head. I had a mower one time that would run fine once you got it going, but it was a royal pain to get it going...turns out there was a small pin hole in the fuel line that was creating enough vacuum leakage that the fuel pump wasn't working as good as it should have.

Just something else to check.