I have a Lawn Boy mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine. Today, it was running fine, until it began to cough and sputter, then die. I removed the top (please see images at Untitled Document), and then restarted the mower, but as soon as it started to cough and sputter (which was almost immediately) I manually pressed the choke closed (or open -- I'm not sure which is which -- again, please see the images), it ran fine. When I released the choke, the engine died. Does this sound like a problem that can be DIY repaired? Thank you for your help.

 

Sounds like the carburetor needs to be cleaned out.

 

You might get lucky, if you can remove the carb bowl without removing the whole carb, 1/2" socket, I think the bowl nut is the main jet on that engine, then clean the bowl, clean the bowl nut, 2 holes at the bottom, one through the center, refer to pic below for reference, be very careful when reinstalling the bowl so as not to damage or misalign the bowl gasket or you will create further problems. Have a good one. Geo

 

Thank you both. I will do that.