Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I was getting the mower out for the season, checked the oil, filled her up, hit the primer 3 times and voila she started right up.  After about 3 passes on the lawn, she started coughing and finally died.  I stopped it, checked the oil level again and restarted, it ran rough once again.  I took the air filter off, blew it out with the compressor and put that back and started it back up.  No luck, it just sputtered and died.  I cleaned the spark plug and replaced it.  This time when I started it up the idle was entirely too fast.  It's like Tim Taylor came in and turbo charged it overnight or something.  Since this mower has no throttle adjustment or idle adjustment, I was wondering what the problem might be?  Any suggestions?  The mower is only 3 years old and well cared for

Thanks

Tim K.