Need help with a B&S vanguard 16hp running rich

[pennyanguy]

Hi all... hope you can give a bit of help... Have a B&S Vanguard 303777-1032A1 running rich... plugs black /sooty after about 1.5 hour running. pulled carb, float looks a bit low (tilted down) ... I can not seem to get the float pin out.. either its frozen in place or they are pressed in... in my past experience with these small engines the float pin is easy to push out... but I have encountered plenty of times the float pin holders get broken so I dont want to do that... any ideas? I am assuming pulling that pin is the only way to adjust the needle valve...

I am not 100% convinced the float is far enough out of spec or the needle valve or seat is bad... this ran fine for years until I let my 17 year old son mow a friends small yard (3/4 acre maybe) of pretty high grass... Of course Numb Nuts mows it with the deck down and the throttle at half speed...I wasn't there but I know he was bogging it pretty bad. brought it home smoking... I pulled carb all looked semi OK other then float a bit low... replaced the plugs ( had b&s 491055T... put champion RV12YC I had on the shelf) blew out air filter (dont have an extra), ran great for about an half hour then started to smell the rich exhaust and black smoke upon hard acceleration.

Any ideas on how to pull the float pin without breaking the pin holder? am I chasing the wrong ghost? could a plugged air filter cause rich running?... any other ideas???

 

[Roadworthy]

A plugged air filter will indeed cause it to run rich. It's trying to pull fuel at the same rate but not getting enough air. Replace the air cleaner. If it's been running fine for years don't worry about the float.

 

[RandyT]

Air filters can look almost new and completely clean and be plugged tight. Some of those carbs do have a pressed in float valve pin.

 

[5030]

Briggs usually do on the larger motors. It's a fixed jet (non adjustable carb) so I'd be looking elsewhere. Is the choke mis adjusted?