Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Snowblower engine, briggs stratton engine, briggs stratton

Question
I have a Briggs & Stratton engine on my snowblower. I'm not exactly sure on how old it is as I bought it used.  I would guess it's an early-mid '80's, Montgomery Ward brand. I used it about 1 month ago with no problems.  Today i attempted to start it, but no luck.  It had a full tank of fresh gas.  It would start and run for about 2-3 seconds and completely shut down.  This process continued for about 5 minutes.  I never got it to run steady today.  I have not serviced it before.

Answer
If it only runs after you have primed it or with the choke on, the carb needs to be cleaned.  This is a common problem on equipment that is dedicated seasonal.  Make sure you clean the carb thoroughly, including pushing a piece of tage wire through all of the internal passages.  You can tell the year of it by the first two digits in the 'code' number stamped on the engine.  If this engine is old enough to have a points ignition, you would be wise to replace the points and condensor while you are servicing things.  You can take the numbers from the engine and find parts diagrams at the Briggs & Stratton website.  Hope this helps.