Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Engine turns but no start, resivoir, hell of a time

Question
hey, i have a 3.5 hp techumseh lawn mower engine. I have put it onto a gocart and have had trouble starting. I detached it from the gocart to try starting with little or no resistance on it. I HAVE HAD A HELL OF A TIME! trying to get it going i pull it lots of times..it turns over and then nothing. then sometimes it cycles for a few times thens stops. one time i put fuel into the exhaust and it started. one time it started for 15 seconds then cut out when i had the throttle down to a low speed at lower rpm's. the wierd thing is i have had it started before for a good two minutes with no problems. at one point i was able to start it many times with   only  one pull to start it. AND most importantly i have no stiffness on my primer bulb. As well there is a resivoir under the primer bulb with a bolt that can be undone, so because i had no stifness in th primerbulb i thought it might be dry but it was full of fuel. All of these symtoms seemto contacdict each other so i am very confused...nothing seems quite lodgical!  i have no idea of what it could be so if you agree with my conclusion that my engine is possessed by evil spritis then you might not be far off! thanks
    Greg

Answer
Hi Greg,

Sorry for my delay.

Evil spirits might be a possibility but I suspect a fuel flow problem.  Try to start it while squirting fuel or starting fluid into the carb INTAKE.  If it starts and you can keep it running by adding fuel, then the carb most likely has dirt, debris or gummed fuel inside.   
You will need to remove the carb, disassemble it, clean all the small internal openings and blow it out with compressed air.   Probe each and every hole with a small wire.   Adding a carb rebuild kit wouldn't hurt either.  

Let me know how you make out.
Michael