OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines 12hp Briggs on a 1996 murray 30 inch

Just tried to restart my murray ride on after two years in the back of my shed. New spark plug installed, charged the battery, but it only turns over and doesn't start,
Drained the fuel from the carb, checked the fuel line and fuel was getting to the carb.

Any suggestions ??

Hi djr1718

Please post photos and the model number of your engine so we know what we were dealing with.

First thing I would check is the spark, whip the plug out rest it on the cowl and turn her over.

Next test would be compression. It could have a stuck valve from sitting

Cheers

Mick

Hi djr1718,

The model information we need will be stamped into the metal cooling air cowling of your Briggs and will appear in 3 segments, Model, Type and Code....can you please post all those numbers here.

Please find attached photos of the motor, tried over the weekend and wasn't much spark off the plug.

Here is the Illustrated Parts List for your engine:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/Z6houBVJ1DajI.pdf

Here is the Operator's Manual:
http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/mssAIQ-K_ny7tH217FzoPu.pdf

This is a very common and well-known large side-valve Briggs. It uses a Synchro-Balance system involving a large reciprocating weight in the crankcase to reduce vibration, and consequently it is important to keep the oil clean and topped up. Yours was made on 11 January 1996, which makes it a relatively late model. Consequently it has a Walbro LMT carburetor rather than the traditional large one-piece Flo-Jet.

To see whether the spark is good enough, I suggest you repeat the spark test using a known good plug, gapped to at least 0.060" (0.100" would be better) and see if you get a steady series of blue sparks. If you don't, you will need to remove the Magnetron ignition module, clean up its grounding area, clean the casting it mounts on (and grounds to), reinstall it with the correct gap to the flywheel (one visiting-card thickness) and try it again with the kill wire disconnected at the coil. If it won't spark decently over a 0.100" gap when it is set up like that, it is time for a replacement Magnetron unit. However they are pretty reliable, it is probably the plug, the grounding, or the kill wire.