Well, the fuel must be new and clean to start with.Any signs of water or debris it is best to flush the tank and line plus do a quick clean on the carb. I'm assuming you have a basic Tecumseh engine in which the main jet is in the bowl nut -which small holes should be cleaned and the inside of the bowl as well.

Yes, i just fixed one like it a few weeks ago. Did the same thing!
I removed the carburetor bowl nut and the bowl. I dumped out the old fuel and cleaned the bowl. then i inspected the nut/bolt that holds the bowl onto the carb. Using a thin wire, i probed the TWO holes in the shank of the bowl bolt, blew thru it forcefully, then i reinstalled the cleaned bowl and bolt, making sure the bowl gasket seated properly. I then turned on the fuel supply, gave it time to fill the fuel bowl, and started the engine. It started right away, and kept running for a reasonable amount of time (10 minutes) until i shut it off. I returned it to the owner.

Here are some pictures.

Shown are 3 of the typical jets and the small holes. All 3 are Tecumseh jets. Briggs jets are similar with the center-bottom hole and one on the side. All these holes need to be fully clean and open for the engine to run correctly.
Some jets only have the center-bottom hole.

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