129 will not fire.

[ol'George]

When you adjusted the valves, was the engine @ top dead center
as it should of been? otherwise they might not be set correctly.
Did you flush/look in the gas tank to see if it was clean?
I have found anything and everything in them over the years.
From paint chips to paper shop towels, rags, rocks, hickory nuts, washers. and lots I'm sure I've forgotten.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by bwallenjr

Here are some photos I am not sure they will help and they are not the best.

If it is in the oil breather I am not sure what? I made sure it was reassembled right, the filter is cleanish the drain hole clear the air hole clear. The valves were moving ok. I adjusted the tappets because I could get my feeler guage in between them. Could adjusting them wrong be the issue? I figured if that were the case it would not have ran at all and it did run and sounded ok for a day

Well, I certainly agree the pictures are not the best.

Did you install all new gaskets on everything you took apart? I don't see any new gaskets on anything in the pics, but I don't know at what point you took the pictures.

Ol'George asked some good questions. Make sure you read his post and let us know.

Just so I also answer your questions: Yes, you could have adjusted the valves wrong, but I don't think that is the issue. Odd thing is, as valves wear, the tappet gap gets tighter.... if you could get a feeler gauge in it and it was loose, I question whether you were using the right gauge. It's that or someone else has been in there and done it incorrectly. If the engine was not at TDC when you set them, the gap should have been too tight. At this point, I'm not convinced one way or the other as to whether you did it correctly or not.

In the pic, that carb is very dirty. Doesn't look like a carb that has been taken apart and cleaned and rebuilt. Spraying carb cleaner into a carb to clean it without disassembly is like rinsing your mouth out to cure a stomach ache.

[dodge trucker]

Well that's the problem.... You're already mowing.......
The tractor is telling you that it's too early in the season, it don't wanna work yet... You're mowing and we're still getting snow and temps that won't leave the 30's

[bwallenjr]

Originally Posted by dodge trucker

Well that's the problem.... You're already mowing.......
The tractor is telling you that it's too early in the season, it don't wanna work yet... You're mowing and we're still getting snow and temps that won't leave the 30's

Hehe the old joke in virginia is if you don't like the weather wait a day... We are expecting some more snow tomorrow here but todays high is in the 60s another chance for snow monday the highs going back into the 60s my grass dont know what to do...

To answer some of yalls question no I did not completely disassemble the carb. I was waiting on my rebuild kit originally and it had been running so I gave it a quick cleaning. However i got the choke plate quite bright and whatever is going on blackened it back up quick. Gaskets are being replaced slowly gotta wait on money for em...not the best way to go about it I know but a poor boy has to make concessions. I am going to go in and check the tappets again. I had it at TDC and I felt like it was in the compression stroke but it dont hurt to turn it over by hand again and see.

Curious what yall think anybody ever hear of putting some atf in your gas to help decarbonize.. I aint tried just read about it awhile ago..could be bs

[olds45512]

When you take the breather back off to check the valves make sure the hole in the inner piece is at the bottom and isn't plugged, that's how the breather drains and if it can't drain it will blow oil out the hole in the outer plate.

[J-Mech]

If you want to decarbon, it's best on that engine to just pull the head and do it. Probably in need of a new head gasket anyway. They usually are.

If you must do it with additives, use Sea Foam. Yes, ATF in the gas works, but not like Sea Foam. It's an old trick from before there were additives.

If you haven't replaced the breather gaskets, it's going to leak. No way around it. These gaskets are cheap. Just get them and stop taking it apart over and over.

If the choke plate is getting black running, it's pushing compression or exhaust into the carb. Could be a lean condition, could be a poor seating intake valve. Could be a tappet set too tight. If you haven't replaced any of the gaskets, could have a vacuum leak which would cause a lean condition.

Yes, poor people have poor ways, but the best thing you can do is get all the needed parts, then work on it. At the very least, cut a gasket from a cereal box. Better than putting an old hard gasket on. Be smart if you are poor. Don't cause more damage and create more problems for you to chase, then bring them here for us to solve. We're here to help, but you are only making it tougher by not properly doing a repair and expecting it to magically be fixed.

[olds45512]

FYI, you can get a brand new generic carb off eBay for about $17.