How to Adjust a Single Stage Snowblower Carb

Ensure the snowblower is running. Listen for sputtering or engine whining, which is a clear sign that the carburetor must be adjusted.

Find the carburetor bowl on your engine assembly. Briggs & Stratton manufactures the majority of small engines used in snowblowers and similar machines, and the bowl-shaped carburetor can be found around midway up the left side of these engines. The carburetor bowl should be in a similar position on non-Briggs & Stratton engines, and its distinctive bowl shape aids in immediate identification.

Locate the small needle adjustment valve on the bottom of the snowblower's carburetor bowl. Leave the engine running as you turn the adjustment valve all the way to the right.

Turn the snowblower's adjustment valve a quarter turn back to the left. Listen for any change or cessation in the engine's sputtering or whining.

Continue to gradually turn the needle valve back to the left, listening for engine noise changes after each adjustment. Eventually, the adjustment needle valve will be placed back into the correct position and the sputtering will cease. Normal snowblower operation can then resume.