I have a 7.8 HP Briggs & Stratton Vanguard Engine that won't start and there is no spark.

SOURCE: I am considering purchasing a used Exmark with a

yep its a briggs and normaly there very good ploders
if your john deere spluters and back fires it needs a good looking at check the valves first,,,a hand full of bolts and the heads off and if your carfull you can still use the same head gasket again,,,also check the carb there very finiky and need to be kept clean the air filter is a joke,,,but clean it anyhow and they like new plugs,,,every ten years or so? iv worked on 100s of brigss and stratons/vanguard. there good engines but there ploders not sprinters there ok in a tractor but no good in a tank there to darn slow

SOURCE: carb is getting clogged and spark plugs fouling

Carburetor cleaner will ruin the rings and do that.

SOURCE: Briggs and Stratton Vanguard 23Hp starter issues

take the starter off and give the bendix a realy good clean up and then splash some oil on it,,,they get very dry and sticky at times,,,you can test the starter uasing some jump leads stand on it though, dont hold it in your hands as it will spin out of your grip
hook the black lead to the caseing and tuch the red lead on the starter battery stud,,,it should spin up and strow the bendix out as soon as you take the lead off the bendix should slid back in if it dont oil it till dose also check the starter relay it could be sticking on holding the starter in

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SOURCE: Ok i have a problem

It appears that you have a slight mis-adjustment in the idle speed and idle mixture. To adjust setup, start with at least a half tank of fuel, and have engine at operating temperature (That is warm but not overly Hot). The Briggs & Stratton Website manuals section should show the locations of the adjusting screws if you are not sure of them.
To adjust idle speed set Throttle control to minimum and adjust screw on throttle butterfly to maintain a good idle speed. To adjust idle mixture, screw in idle mixture screw (Lean) until motor falters and then screw out (Rich) until it falters again. Correct setting is the halfway point of these two positions. You may have to re-adjust idle speed again and also the mixture to get best running.
If you are not comfortable doing this, take it to a B & S dealer.

SOURCE: My 12.3 hp briggs and

Hi Frank. Welcome to FixYa. I am Kelly Cold start problems with above 500 hours is telling you the valve seats are dirty. Most of the time the exhaust valve is the culprit. The real solution is to remove the cylinder head and hand lap the valves with valve grinding compound.
This is from the service manual:

NOTE: Valve faces can be resurfaced on a

commercially available valve grinder. However,

Briggs & Stratton does not recommend this

practice because the quality of the resurfacing

may be insufficient. Instead, valve replacement

is recommended.

5. Oil the intake valve guide and intake valve

stem, then insert valve into head.

6. Using Valve Lapping Tool #19258 and

Lapping Compound #94150, lap valve and

seat together to assure a good sealing

surface. Remove valve, the repeat

procedure for the exhaust valve.

7. Thoroughly clean both valves and cylinder
head of all lapping compound residue.

• I have found that you can do this with your thumb and grinding compoind on an old valve if there is a large valve seat facing area. You have to losen / remove each rocker arm ONE at a time. What I am saying is do ONE valve by removing ONE rocker arm at a time. The Exhaust valve sometimes has a washer between the end of the valve and the roceker arm. (some models only) The intake valve does NOT have this washer..

We could discuss carb cleaning but I do not think at this point you have a carb problem. High engine hours = worn / dirty valve seats. It is not a difficult job it just take time. If this is your first ever time of removing a cylinder head BEFORE you start take pictures of the carb AND Governor linkages. You will be so glad you did!!!!

Valve gaps 0.004

The site you could use for an engine repair manual is down for maintenance. If you need it... we wil have to wait until the server is back on line post holiday weekend.

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly