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

I have an older  15 plus years  Craftsman snowblower with a TEC 10-hp engine. The engine starts in 1-pull and runs great until it hits snow and the engine sputters a bit and dies. I checked all of the linkages everything moves free. Is the carb shot or ??

Try pulling the nut out of the bottom of the carb bowl and checking that the holes in it are clean.  It should have 2 at the bottom and depending on the style 1 tiny one at the top.  While you have it apart maybe spray some carb cleaner in there.  You could try just opening the needle screw a bit, but my guess is the main jet is partially plugged.  If you want to test it first you can crab the governor arm and rev the engine a few times and see if it sputters when you do that.  Just be careful not to rev it too high or for too long.  Oh, and when you remove that nut on the bottom all your gas will come out, hopefully you have a shut off on the fuel line,

The nut is #5 and #6 here.
http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/tecumseh_carb_632334a.asp

Will it run with the choke open a little ?  If so the machine is telling you that it is being starved for gas.   The carb could need replacement if its really dirty, or it may just need to be washed out and blown out with some carb cleaner and an an air hose.   These little engines are fairly simple hows the spark plug look grey is proper balck is too rich and needs air.  Air cleaner replacement may help, but usually the dirts already where it shouldn't be.  The carb is almost ceratinly the problem.  Has the machine been kept clean and covered when stored for the off season?  If not dirt can easily get into the air filterless acrb of a snowblower.