The carb is gummed up and needs a thorough cleaning. This is very common on snowblowers that see infrequent use. At the very least, replace the inlet n&s and the bowl gasket.

Took the carb OFF took it apart and cleaned it with a whole can of carb cleaner. The blower will start on gas if you pump the primer three times and put the choke on full. But will not keep running?

If this carb has the brass nut holding the bowl on, that IS also your Main Jet. Clean out the holes in it.
If it's a plastic bowl carb, get the bowl kit.

Bill is right, it is the bolt on the bottom of the bowl. There is going to be a really small hole in it (I'm talking small enough a needle has a hard time going through), try to blow it out with air, or if you are careful you can use a piece of wire to clean the hole. I had the exact same problem on my 3.5hp tecumseh on my push mower this summer.

Yes it has the brass nut. I pulled out the jet cleaned with compressed air and carnb cleaner. Still no dice?? Could the primer be leaking vacume?

Did you clean BOTH holes?

Looked all over the nut only see ONE hole??

In the portion of the threads where there is an unthreaded area, you will see a hole about the size of a human hair. That's usually the culprit when it's blocked. It's drilled at an angle.

Yes, I see the ONE hole that size in that area. That is the one I cleaned out??

Is there another hole looking straight down into the nut? If there is no adjusting screw, you might see a small hole there in the center of the bottom.

No hole in the center of the bottom.

Check to see if the fuel line is restricted.

I'd still expect to see 2 holes in the jet.:-)

I've worked on a mix of engines over the years and for some reason, Tecumseh carbs have a problem with varnish in the main jet. A similarly designed carb on a B&S will never have a varnish problem.

Yep, this is the last straw for me a Tecumseh. I have floated valves on two Tecumseh's in the past two years. I threw a rod in another with 1000 hours on it. I have NEVER had luck with Tecumseh, this is just the latest.

Try loosening the cap on the gas tank. Maybe the cap vent is plugged causing a vacuum in the tank which is causing gas starvation. My 2 cents.

Thanks for the tip thought of that and no luck.

If it fires and will run a second or two try removing the air cleaner and spray carb. cleaner down the throat. alittle at a time to keep it running the higher RPM the better. I have a tecumseh that sets 8 months out of the year and I have to devarish it when I want to fire it it up. This works for me I have never taken the carb off. I would also double check the routing of the gas hoses and make sure it's getting gas down to the carb. if it won't take off on my suggestion.

1000 hours out of the next to the cheapest engine made an't too bad IMO. I dought the cheaper china made knockoff will last that long.

This problem would be eliminated if everybody would run the tank out of gas until the engine stalls at the end of the season.

Tecumseh engines seem to have carb issues when they have sat for awhile.

IMO that don't get all the gas out of the carb. There are still traces of gas left that IMO eventually turn to tarnish and plug fine passages up.

Once air reaches the carb. it starts the engine to stall and run out of fuel when the gas no longer has the siphon or vacuum effect to pull through. This IMO is why any small engine is hard to start till it primed either by pushing the fuel up and through the carb. or gravity slowly feeds through it.

I would replace all the fuel lines and make sure the primer bulb does not have a small crack alowing it to suck air.

The problem with the primer bulbs you don't know when the gas reaches the carb. or how much is pumped into the comb chamber. This is why they are flooded easily IMO or no gas get through. You don't know you've flooded it till the gas runs out the carb. Now the only way to get it to start is either pulling the rope for several minutes to blow out the excess gas, let it set till it evorates, or remove the plug and de-flood the engine my pulling the rope several times and blowing the excess out the spark plug hole.

about every 5 years or so I have to remove the carb. on my 34 year old tiller which has a briggs 3 1/2 hp engine. I estimate over the years I have about 150 hours on it if that beings I only use it about 3 hours a year. So to say it just tecumseh engines IMO is not so, maybe they are worse, but some engines have tempermental problems.

Small sand particles and varnish eventually keep it from running the exact problem you are experiencing. I had the carb. apart probably 8 times and have never replaced a gasket. I also reuse the head gasket ever time I decarbonize the comb chamber.

I have found the best way to start an engine when it set for along time is to turn the fuel on, or push the primer buttom a couple of time. then remove the air cleaner and spray short blast of carb. cleaner down the venturi. IMO this primes the engine more acturately. Choke it an it will usually fire right off. If it want to die give another short blast of carb. cleaner till the fuel is being pulled through by the draw suction of the pistons.

Whatever gas is left in the carb evaporates quickly, I believe.

My snowblower is about 30 years old and I always did this and i've never worked on the carb.

A handy person could always loosen the bowl nut and drain the rest of the gas, but I never did.

To it's credit this carb is equiped with a quick drain on the carb bowl. You can just push it and get the old fuel out of the bowl. To bad the huge carb cover prevents you from geting to it.

I would try a rebuild on this unit, although sometimes it takes a few times to get it clean. I use carb cleaner followed by air and I repeat a few times. I will take strands of wire and clean the small holes followed by another flush and air. Remove the silver caps and clean the holes underneath them.

I use SEAFOAM as an additive , this stuff works great

My snow king will run for a few seconds and then die. Sounds common, of course when I open the choke she runs like a scalded dog.
Sorry to be obvious but I have two suggestions.
First we are assuming you are opening the choke after it fires.
Second, I have had experience with tecumseh carbs on snow kings and if boiling them out with a soak in carb cleaner does not work, I replaced the carb.

Old gas softens everything in the fuel system. Gas lines, primer lines and bulbs. After the gas is done rotting the fuel system it starts to gum it up as the volatiles in the fuel evaporate.
Tecumseh tends to be more vulnerable due to their l-head engines using more rubber than the bs counterpart.

Common issue with seasonal equipment and I hope this helps.
Long thread and we'd all like to get you on your way.

Peace

Yep, open the choke once it fires. But does not continue to run. I am thinking that since I don't have a parts cleaner. I will just replace the carb. What brand is it?

Tecumseh carb for an _ _80SK engine

It is actualy a 7hp. now that I look at it harder.

These are sold on ebay,,,,new. Check that out first.

I remember hearing that the same carb was used on the 7&8 HP engines, but that the 8HP wouldn't run well...something like that.

Model and serial of the engine?

Hey just had this problem - went to another site where a person was pulling his hair out until a dealer told him to check the screw on the float bowl - it should be tight and them backed out two turns - I tried this and my old tecumseh has never ran better. 1 minute fix - oh yeah!