What's the Model & Type number of the engine?

Man I've looked all over the engine and I can't find them. But like I said, this problem should be pretty general, not anything specific to the mower itself.

'But like I said, this problem should be pretty general, not anything specific to the mower itself.'

Stop saying that - you're wrong.

Is the gas fill behind the engine or in front of it on a rectangular metal tank? This tells us what kind of fuel system it has so we can troubleshoot.
Why do you talk about 'idling'? Your mower most likely does not have a manual throttle, so its set to run at full throttle all the time - there is no 'idle'. Your problem is probably a blocked fuel orifice.
Does it start and run okay after a rest of at least an hour, but then die again? That may be a bad fuel fill cap not allowing venting. How about your fuel? Did you use old gas in it (thirty days or more with no stabilizer)?

IF that mower only run once or twice after you bought it, why in the world wouldn't you be taking it back under warranty?

Unless you think you have messed it up some way.

Walt Conner

Hey Saxman, this sounds like the problem I had with my lawnboy. Adjusting the governor vane fixed it. I don't know if his has that setup, but just sounded similar.

Walt has the right idea. Briggs has a 2 year warranty on this model. Take the mower back to Wal Mart and they can get if fixed under warranty for you, provided the problem wasn't caused by the user.
The identity of the engine is given in the 1st line of the post. It is a 500 series (5.00 ft/lb) 10T502-xxxx-E1. The model and type are stamped above the spark plug, under the plastic shroud.
There is a carb problem at hand here. Sounds like diaphragm or warped carb.

Saxman - Sorry to have offended you so much with all of my incorrect mower terminology. The gas fill is on a rectangular metal tank, behind the carburetor on the right side of the engine as viewed from the rear. I said idling even though it does not have a manual throttle because I am used to cars. I work at an auto parts store and used to work at a mechanic shop.

Walt - When I bought the mower, the cashier rang up the wrong model on her flip-book of mower barcodes. I didn't notice this until I tried to return the mower where I bought it. They won't take back the mower because technically I don't have a receipt for it.

Stu and mowernoob - Thanks for your replies. I am going to try replacing the diaphragm... I was able to get two diaphragms for Briggs motors at work, and I think one of them is it... if my reference book is right. The other one I bought because my store manager said its the most common Briggs diaphragm (???). If that doesn't fix it, I guess I'll take it to a small engine repair shop. What can I expect to pay, let's say worst case scenario and it needs a new carburetor?

Neighbor has exact same mower, weedeater 22"
His engine is a 10T702-0857
It also was a hard starter when hot and the engine is woefully underpowered for the size blade it is spinning so he spent a LOT of time restarting it. He hit something last weekend and I went over to help as he could not even get it to turn over. He bent the crankshaft so bad it side loaded the bearing and forced the oil seal over so far it was leaking oil out of one side. He repowered it with a LV195XA. Think that is a 6hp, and all but eliminated the stalling problem.

Sink-
Go to the Briggs website and down load an IPL for the above mentioned engine-
Try a Model 10T802, Type 0005
http://www.briggsandstratton.com/maint_repair/manual_and_more

See if your carb resembles that one.

It's sounding to me like you had some crud in the tank and it's clogging the fuel pick up tube.
Diaphragm is another possibility, but I get the impression it's a newer mower?

If the receipt printed out wrong, that is 'THEIR' problem.
They can check inventory, etc. See the manager!!
(maybe this is a trick they learned to keep people from
returning items?) Anyway, it is wrong, wrong, wrong!
I would go to the ends of the earth to fight this one,
even if I had to pay a lawyer.

Okay, you have the 'Pulsa-Jet' type of fuel system, which uses the vacuum created by the intake 'pulse' through the carb to draw fuel up out of the tank. This is effected by the 'diaphragm pump' and pick-up tube. There is never any fuel stored in the carburetor which is one of its advantages. Another is very few moving parts. I have had a diaphragm go bad on old mowers but not new ones, but that's your problem - that is, it is not picking up the fuel. It could be a defective diaphragm or foreign material in the fuel tank. If it were mine, I would make them take it back. After all, you have a receipt that shows you did buy a mower, and they can check their records and see that they sold yout mower on the same day and time - should be inventoried by serial number. Failing that, you'll have to take the carb and tank off, a fairly simple job. Take the carb off the tank to access the diaphragm and pick-up tubes. Inspect the tank and flush out with clean, new gas. Inspect the pick-up tubes and screen - blow out with carb spray. Replace diaphragm and put it back together. It should run.

Well I went to a different Wal-mart for one last try at returning the mower. This location wouldn't let me bring the mower in the store because it had gas in it. So the procedure was to leave it in lawn and garden, go to customer service, and have them call the folks in L&G to verify there was a lawn mower to be returned. Because the customer service rep couldn't see the mower, she refunded me for the mower on my receipt.

So I went next door Lowes and down the street to Sears. I decided to spend a little more money on a mower this time. Each store had a similar mower for the same price, Craftsman offering big rear wheels with rear bag/mulch and Troy-Bilt offering same size wheels but side discharge in addition to rear bag/mulch. But what I liked was the advertised EZ Start of these Briggs motors. I got the Troy-Bilt so I could use the side discharge and I got the 6.75 Briggs EZ Start motor.

Once it was assembled and I put oil and gas into it, sure enough, it started on the first easy pull. Woohooo!

Thanks for the information Saxman1, have the same mower with the exact problem. Replaced the carb diaphragm(comes with gasket as well for $4.95) and the mower started right up.

Thanks again

Weed eater, Briggs and Straton, 300 series, model 9S502, Type 1019/B1, 4.50 ft/lbs., 20 in. The plastic fuel/air flow tube from carburetor to combustion chmber was cracked. I took it off and used Gorilla glue to repair it. The main thing is the mower was running high speed for a second then low speed for a few seconds sounding like it is going to shut off. The spark plug is getting ashy black. I changed the spark plug with a new one and it is still turning ashy black after about 5 seconds once it starts running slower. At times I can smell gas. At times when it is doing its high to low speed change I can see a couple puffs of black out of the exhaust. What is making the plug get ashy black so fast even after cleaning it like new. Its already a new plug. Thanks

Weed eater, Briggs and Straton, 300 series, model 9S502, Type 1019/B1, 4.50 ft/lbs., 20 in. The plastic fuel/air flow tube from carburetor to combustion chmber was cracked. I took it off and used Gorilla glue to repair it. The main thing is the mower was running high speed for a second then low speed for a few seconds sounding like it is going to shut off. The spark plug is getting ashy black. I changed the spark plug with a new one and it is still turning ashy black after about 5 seconds once it starts running slower. At times I can smell gas. At times when it is doing its high to low speed change I can see a couple puffs of white smoke out of the exhaust. What is making the plug get ashy black so fast even after cleaning it like new. Its already a new plug. Thanks