OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Briggs 3.5hp fouling plug in 3 hours

Hi all,
New member as I was approved (by the missus) for a Rover 45 Reel mower, circa 1991 a few weeks ago. The lead seems to date 2001 so thinking the engine may hay been replaced, which is fine.
BUT the engine seems to be running super rich. I replaced the plug two weeks ago after it stopped and it again stopped yesterday and was inoperable due to the plug. Its not wet, just carbon buildup. Runs roughly when idle and stinks of petrol with a slight bit of black smoke but nothing major. I've taken out the air filter which looks clean enough, but seems to leak petrol if I fill the tank to full? Will normally use much more fuel that my normal rotary does.
Checked tonight and the needle valve for the pulsa-jet is already closed (i.e. when adjusting it it was already closed clockwise) so it seems adjusting it is useless. I haven't tried the idle screw as it seems pointless as I the needle valve is already 'closed', but I'm no where near a mechanic. Be honest- should I just get it serviced? Seems the engine is fine as not using oil but the carburetor housing and fuel delivery seems shot so hoping it it the lesser of costs in terms of replacement.
Sorry for the long post but just wanted to be accurate
Respect
Bigwal

Need the Model, type numbers, and possibly the date code. Some of the carburetors in the Aussieland has a small jet that have been known to fall out causing over rich conditions; doesn't mean yours is one of them, just a thought.

Thanks AVB. Motor details:
- Model 091202
- Type 1384 E1
- Code 040507 YA (2004?)
If needed the Rover Model is 45058 and Serial 5098207. By the fact it seems i almost don't need a choke to start the thing the jet seems reasonable.

Horizontal engine Tnx for the numbers as I was thinking of the vertical.

That carburetor originally came with the fixed idle mixture jet. Double check it still has one if not then someone tried changing it over to a an adjustable version which comes in the rebuild kit.

And yes it is a May 07, 2004 engine.

Thanks AVB. My mechanical skills are known to have made items unusable, so might best be left to a professional. I've taken base off the air filter so if you could point me in the right direction I could find it, but won't waste you're time if you're in the middle of thanksgiving!
I'm looking at keeping this mower for the foreseeable future so as I said in my first post, so budget wise if the cost of replacing the carburetor is OK then it might just be easier doing that...

What your thinking as a idle mixture adjustment would be were fix jet would. It is a screw with tiny in the middle with a cross hole. Some people idle it is mixture adjustment which it once was. They mistakenly enlarge that hole.

From here I will turn this over to ones that are closer to you that have a lot more experience with the Rover brand.