Spray a burst of carburetor cleaner into the throat of the carb (air intake) and then crank the engine. If it runs for a second or two on each spray of carb cleaner, your problem is fuel starvation (the carb cleaner is "test fuel"). The fuel pump may have stopped working or debris in the carb float bowl might have clogged the main jet that is located in the deepest part of the carb. The main jet can be accessed by removing the hex headed plug in the bottom of the bowl. When you remove the plug, have a gasoline proof cup or can to catch the gasoline that spills from the bowl. The amount of gas that runs out of the bowl can offer a hint to whether your trouble is a clogged jet, or a failed fuel pump. If only a tiny trickle of gas flows out of the bowl, your fuel pump is likely defective, and the last gas it pumped has been consumed by the engine. On the other hand, if quite a bit of fuel runs out (indicating a "full bowl") it means your main jet is likely clogged. The main jet can be removed through the access hole where you removed the hex plug. The main jet is removed by inserting an Allen wrench into the female hex tool port in the main jet body. Once you find the correct size Allen wrench for your jet, turn the jet counter clockwise to remove it. Use spray carb cleaner to flush out and clean the jet orifice. Also spray the insides of the carb bowl through the jet access hole too. Really dirty carbs can be best cleaned by removing them for a complete disassembly and clean-out. But you can try the minimalist's method first.

OK thanks. I'll give this a try and post the results.

I sprayed some carb cleaner in there and it made it worse. By that I mean that when your cranking the engine over, the motor "acts" like it wants to start. The rpm's raise to the point where you would release the key to let it run on its own. When I spray the cleaner in there it sounds like its not firing at all. Seems to me that indicates too much fuel.

Uh......you are not pulling the choke out to do this test are you? For this test the choke should not be used.
And please erase any allusions that this could be related to timing or any key.
Did you find and remove the hex headed plug in the bottom of the carb as I suggested? Doing that would determine somewhat the nature of the problem. If the engine problem (dying down) was caused by too much fuel being fed to the engine, you would probably have included in your list of symptoms "I see BLACK smoke out the exhaust".
If the engine is actually being overfueled, it could only be caused by a very few things.
(1) Float has failed to rise up to shut off fuel at the correct level in the bowl.
(2) The main jet has somehow vibrated loose and fallen out of its threaded bore in the carb.
(3) The choke is closing when it should be open, cutting off the air to the intake of engine.
I don't know how you feel about going into the carb but it seems to be heading in that direction.
I have included some pics of my own 422707 to help you find things.

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And I see that I committed a cardinal sin in editing the photo showing the hex plug. The side of carb shown is actually the LEFT side of carb from the operator's seat (as is the correct reference point). It would be the RIGHT side of carb only if you standing in front of the engine looking toward the steering wheel. Sorry, my bad :^(

No, no choke is being used for testing. Even though it didnt start I pulled the plug on the side of the carb and got a bunch of fuel out. I also pulled the jet and sprayed cleaner in the hole to make sure everything was clean. Put it back together and still nothing.

Still nothing!! If the carb bowl was full, and the jet is clear.........and spraying carb cleaner makes it worse??????
It may indeed be overfueling. Disconnect the fuel hose from the carb inlet and plug the hose with something to stop flow of gas from tank.
With the fuel hose removed from the carb, try to get the engine to run (may take a few seconds to purge fuel from intake, don't crank the starter more than about 10 seconds at a time with a couple minutes in between for cooling).
If you reach a point where the engine tries to start up running, and then dies, try the carb spray into the carb throat again. Just a quick shot of cleaner, don't drown it.
If the engine responds to this, the float in the carb is probably hung open or something else is keeping it from shutting off the fuel from entering the carb when the fuel reaches the normal level. If the float, needle & seat do not control the level of fuel in the bowl, the fuel pump will just pump wide open and flood out the engine. You never have said whether you noticed any BLACK smoke.

OH, sorry mownie, no black smoke at any time. I do notice some faint blue smoke sometimes, but very little. I'm tryin the fuel hose test now. Post in a bit.

Oh, sorry mownie, no black smoke at any time. I do get a little blue smoke sometimes(very little). I took the fuel line off and made sure carb was empty. Sprayed my fluid in there and she still wont run. This is getting very frustrating. Ive got to be missing sometrhing somewhere.

Wizzard,

You say you checked the spark, then cleaned the rust off the flywheel & coil('s) have you rechecked to see if you are still getting spark? Someone on here the other day had the coil on upside down and was not getting spark or very weak spark. Coil to flywheel gap OK?

Does the engine have compresion? With the plug wires disconected can you turn the engine by hand and feel the compresion? May need to remove one plug at a time and see if both cylinders have compresion.

Unless you struck a rock or something to really give the engine a hard hit I kind of doubt the key is sheared affecting the timing.

Just a few thoughts, just because something you thought was working the other day does not mean it still is. I've been there and done that more times than I would like to admit, then find I left a wire off, forgot to remove the clamp from a fuel line... well you get the idea.

Hey Buzz, I did recheck and do have spark. Also turned the flywheel and I can feel compression taking place. Coil is on right way. Heck it sayz "this side out" on the top :)

Well didn't hurt to ask, this is strange if you have spark, fuel, compresion and oxygen these 'infernal' combustion engine's ought to fire up. Sure starting to sound like a timing problem sometimes it does not take much. Once worked on a Tecumseh that had been to a dealer and they could not fix it, turned out they put the wrong key in the flywheel, that particular model had a slightly offset key about .015" at most but that thing would not even pop until the corect key was installed.

Might be time to pull the flywheel and check the key, even a slight offest can move the timing several degrees.

Wiz, look at the pic and find the data shown on your egine. Then post your vital numbers (Model#, Type #, Code #.
Also, if you e-mail me I'll send you a copy of a service manual for this family of engines as a PDF file in the reply :^)

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Wiz, if you are still working on this problem, I have one more thing you need to check.
With the throat of the carb in plain view and the choke wide open, look down at the throttle plate "butterfly" (may need a flash light). The throttle plate should be wide open when the engine is not running, and the throttle control is set to high engine RPM position. See the 2 images below (sorry for the blurry idle photo).
The first photo shows the throttle shaft and bell crank in the "wide open throttle" position that it should be in if the engine is not running and the engine control (on dash) is set to high speed. The second photo shows the correct position of the throttle shaft and bell crank when the engine is running at idle.
If you find the throttle plate closed (look in carb throat) when you move the throttle control on dash to high speed position, there is a problem in the governor, governor linkage, or else the bell crank has loosened on the throttle shaft. This is why you must look at the outside of the throttle bell crank as well as the throttle plate down inside the carb throat. Do not mistake the choke butterfly (right in the top of carb) with the throttle plate (which is at the bottom quadrant of carb).

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Hey Mownie, sorry it took so long to get back, had a busy couple of dayz. The model is 422707...type is 1228 01..the code is 90083012. I read the suggestion you posted last and will try that tomorrow. Will re-post then.

Hi Mownie, no the governor looks like it is working. With the lever on the dash all the way up, the choke pushed in, the motor not running, the bottom plate is wide open. I went and got some new spark plugs. I'm gonna install those, re-check spark again, then tear off the flywheel like Buzz suggested. I think it might be time to take it to a shop. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed!!