How do you fix an Engine that has too much compression?

You can lower it slightly by getting ticker gasket.

But what makes you think you have too much compression

Good Luck...

16 OHV = 16 over head valve. It is not a measure of pressure

if you are sure about this, i have a trick that i used on my car for the very same problem, and it worked very well.

do a compression check on all of the cylinders to get a starting point and to confirm your diagnosis. (if you pull all of the plugs out, it should be easier to turn the engine over)

i used a camping stove and a tea kettle to administer steam into the engine as it ran, but you might pull the muffler off to prevent the carbon from plugging it up. let it idle like that for about 10 to 15 minutes. shut it down and do the same compression test again. on my car i had a 20 psi drop on the troubled cylinder. it had such a great effect that smog went by so much easier this year.

You're pull starting a 16 horse engine?!?! That may be your problem. Tha'ts a tough pull!

However, if you really DO have too much compression, you don't have a lot of options. Double stacking the head gasket can sometimes work, but this arrangement won't last as long as if it were stock.

Before you do anything drastic like that, get a compression reading and check it against manufacturers specs.

unless someone rebuilt this motor at a zero deck height or a fat oversized piston, you may have gobbs of carbon in your head and piston top. most mowers sit all but 5 months out of the year up here in Maine, and bad gas and burn patterns are poor for the first couple cuttings

Why would you want to do that? The compression ratio is controlled by the computer.