79 440 starting issues

[wiseslider]

Good morning all.i recently picked up a 79 jd440. In pretty decent shape. After spending a day cleaning and degunking the engine compartment, I figured let's tear down the carb and rebuild, so did that. Carb has great fuel flow. Checked timing, timing is perfect, checked choke application. Works great. Checked for spark. There is spark but........... When I turn her over she tries to fire first pull then after that its dead pulls. I notice fuel coming out the muffler, obviously unburnt. The question is....why when I have all three does it not fire? Ohh and the compression is 140 in both cylinders. I have fuel,compression,spark,and timing. I am losin sleep over this one.lol

[Matt]

It's flooded with fuel. The crankcase may be full, so you may need to pull the plugs and pull the engine over a bunch of times to clear it out. The reason it is flooded could be too much fuel passing through the carbs. The metering needle & seats could be worn out and need to be replaced.

[wiseslider]

Thanks for the info. I will do that. I also found this eve that the gap on the plugs is over .025 but they do spark. I will drain the fuel as you stated. I didn't think of that one.

[JDT]

If you do not know the history of the engine or it has not been run in a few years you should also replace the carnkseals.

Bad seals can make all your work go up in smoke in just a few minutes of riding.

[bdreese27]

Did you ever figure this one out? I have the same issue but its on an 81 340 Spitfire with a butterfly carb. Its been driving me nuts.