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

I took the spark plug out and it looks like the tip was dipped in oil. I mixed 50:1 according to the manual. Any thoughts? Thanks

first thing to check is the exhaust and make sure its not pluged. could be running LEAN...inspect carb and clean. and make sure it gets a new spark plug thats VERY important.

Start by checking  the fuel cap on the tank.  The vent may be blocked stopping fuel from getting to the carb.  Check your fuel for water/dirt then look at cleaning the carburetor.  Lots of posts here on how to do that. 

What type of ignition does it have?  If it's points/condenser, you could have a condenser going bad.  They usually act up when they get hot.   How old is the machine? 

Yeah I'm swapping out the spark plug tomorrow. Hopefully that takes care of it. I got it from someone who hasn't used it for a couple yrs. It didn't run, so I drained the gas, cleaned the spark plug, cleaned the bowl out and it fired right up. After that I used it a couple times, and now it's acting up 15-20 mins after being started. I was thinking of cleaning the air filter, but can't tell where it's at without ripping off a bunch of plastic. Is it somewhere easy that I'm just overlooking? It's a MTD Yard Machines 21"/5hp with electric start. Thinking @ 3-4 yrs old. Thanks for the help.

I wouldn't spend too much time looking for an air filter.  Not too many snow throwers come with air filters.  Focus on the fuel and spark plug for now.  Who makes the two stroke engine in your MTD?

It is possible in the 20 minutes you ran it, the vibration loosened up more crud in the fuel lines or something and replugged the carb.

It's a Tecumseh 5hp.