After a short while while I'm using my Craftsman snowblower, the engine starts to miss and eventually dies. I restart it and again after a minute or so the engine dies. This only happens when both the engine and augur are in use. If it's not blowing snow, the engine and augur run smoothly. I used Sea Foam motor treatment last year when I had this problem and I was able to clear my driveway. But even though I put some in the other day when it snowed, the snowblower again started to die after about a half hour? Can anyone offer a solution? I'm thinking either the fuel filter is dirty or more likely the carb bowl. The snowblower is eight years old.

I totally understand what T-man is saying. There are those times when you break into a carburetor and you just know to stop before you start chasing gremlins and spending undo money and time. If the main nozzle stem is white from corrosion or there are rings of varnish, it's time to throw on a new one. Idle circuitry can be cleaned to a certain point. Buying a carburetor rebuild kit is the only way to go in my opinion. You HAVE to pull those Welch plugs if you want to do a proper job. A piece or .020" tag wire does a pretty good job on the idle passages and transition ports. DO NOT soak your carburetor in "a pan of carb cleaner for a week" as stated. Not even for an hour! The carburetor is sealed from the factory with a special chemical coat. Soaking it eats this coating away. The aluminum will become porous and you might start chasing a phantom leak. A leaky bowl gasket will not cause your carburetor to not receive fuel, but it will cause a no-prime situation. Your bowl nut may have only two holes. Some have two holes in the side and one central jet and some just have one hole in the side with a central jet.

You will probably have to remove the carb at this point and clean the internal passageways. In particular, the passageway that that is inside the center tube that the jet screws into. You probably have a Welch plug in the carb and if you don't see full flow fluid coming out of that tube passageway, the engine won't work right. I've seen it a thousand times. Your carb is probably very similar to this carb. Look at this former thread. In picture 12, you will see the red plastic tube inside the center tube of the carb. At the 12 o'clock position above the red tube is an opening. If you squirt carb cleaner in that hole, it must come out somewhere else. In the example of the carb shown, it will come out at one of the holes beneath the Welch plug in picture 13. There are no exceptions. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lmower/msg061726346162.html

Actually Seymour the Kill Switch is just that a wire runs from the coil terminal and is isolated from metal contact via the Plastic key. when you pull out the key s set of contacts close grounding out the coil , shutting off the engine. Check to see if a wire from the coil exists , if so remove it if you using the throttle for shut off. The cut out during load ( drive usage) is a puzzle other than what I 1st indicated....sorry ..Ty ! P.S. Perhaps someone else has a better solution as per carburation...etc .