<p>Last night I had my Murray 27" 8 hp snowblower out. A few minutes after I started it with the electric start (just long enough to get down the hill on my driveway and make a pass at the area in front of the mailbox), it started to sputter. I adjusted the thingy (can you tell I am technical?) that I always adjust right after starting (lowers the flow of something, gas maybe?). Usually I do not need to touch it after one adjustment about 10 seconds after I fire it up.</p>
<p>It started to sputter, and I could see sparks (!) inside the engine through this metal thingy with holes in it on the top/side of the snowblower. After about 15 seconds of sputter/sparking, it went off. Tried to restart with the pull cord, but no luck.</p>
<p>I pulled it back up the driveway in the dark (no small feat, it is HEAVY). Checked the oil in the garage, it is fine. The gas is not old (got it a couple of weeks ago, and have run the snowblower with a couple tanks of it already), and the tank is full. I had the spark plugs and oil changed last year (first time in the 8 years I have owned it). It has never stalled like this before.</p>
<p>I tried googling, didn’t really find anything. It is the sparking that kind of freaked me out… I haven’t tried it again with the electric start yet, I am a little wary of it. Any thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Small engines can be finicky, especially given the trend toward ethanol in gasoline. Ethanol is a powerful solvent and the new gas builds a varnish quickly on exposed parts.</p>
<p>Thingy = choke lever. Metal thingy with holes in it is the exhaust/muffler with a spark arrestor, meant to keep the flames from shooting out if the gasoline mixture does not ignite inside the engine. Be assured that trying to restart it will not do any damage.</p>
<p>At 8 years old, any of a number of things may be wrong. Given the new spark plug, the most likely, and easiest to fix, is a new fuel line and fuel filter. Second most likely is varnish coating in the carburetor. Carb rebuild kits are cheap, but not sure I would tackle this one without some modicum of handiness.</p>
<p>You may be able to get around issues temporarily by running it with the choke and the throttle handle at some unusual mid-point, but you may have to play with it a bit to figure it out. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you for the “thingy” definitions. 
I feel better about going out and trying it again tonight. But if it does start, I am going to keep it up by the garage this time for a while in case it stalls again, so it is easier to get back inside! If it won’t start… well, I supposed I better find someone to come pick it up and repair it. And let the kid across the street earn a few bucks with his snowblower in the meantime!</p>
<p>I would try to boost the octane of the fuel - they sell additives everywhere - in case it’s the gas. But it’s really common to have to play with the choke on an engine like that. They can go chug, chug, chug. </p>
<p>As you know, the real problem is you don’t work on the thing until it’s cold, snowing and often dark. And then when it’s warm the last thing you want to do is strip the thing down. </p>
<p>I used to keep a torque wrench sized to the shear bolts taped with a pack of shear bolts in a bag next to the funnel for filling the gas tank. And an extra thrower belt in the back hall.</p>
<p>Maybe you can tell by the various descriptions of “thingies” that I am not going to “strip the thing down”. I did decide to wait until daylight tomorrow to try it. Fortunately I do not live in the path of the upcoming blizzard!</p>
<p>Is the gas line shut off valve closed? There’s usually a little finger screw valve on the rubber line from the gas tank to the carb so you can shut the gas off for storage over the summer. If that valve gets closed, the engine will die after a minute or so.</p>