Now I don't feel so alone...In a way I just got lucky that I did the leak down test instead just pulling the head for a head gasket replacement. But these Briggs single cylinder Intek are bad about blowing head gaskets and I have learn to do the leak downs while I have rocker cover just check them.
And just shows you are never too old or too experienced not to learn something new by being thrown a new curve ball.
As for the gasoline every DIY tech barks its because of ethanol fuel use but even what they call pure gasoline has its own breakdowns. I can walk by cars that been storage for a long as they smell like old paint at times and know they have bad gasoline.
