Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Craftsman leaf blower problem

Bought a Craftsman leaf blower at a garage sale today for my son who just bought his first home. The model number is 358.79180, the 200 MPH model. The blower starts right up and runs fine as long as the choke and the run levers are in the middle positions. It boogs down, however, when I put either one in the upper positions.

So far I have: cleaned the air filter, run carb cleaner through the carb, put in fresh gas, checked the fuel filter for blockage, made sure the exhaust ports are clear and visually inspected the spark plug which is dry and looks relatively new ( I don't know the proper gap but plan to call Sears repair tomorrow unless someone here know off the top of the head). Despite all this, the blower still boogs down although it is definitely running stronger than when I first started it up with the old gas. It now has alot of power in the middle lever positon.

What would everyone suggest I try next?

Thanks for the help.

If it runs better with the choke part on, It's not getting enough fuel. You said you blew cleaner thru the carb. Did you disassemble it & replace the diaghrams? If not, I think that you may have to. Good Luck!!!

Since you don't know the history of the blower and it seems to be getting better, I would run it for about a week and see if it doesn't correct itself.

Then if you still have problems I would work on the carburetor.

Hope this helps

probably what happened is the previous owners ran it with the choke partly on for long periods of time before you. When that happens with small 2 cycle motors it becomes the only way it will run and never runs quite right. Just speaking for myself, I seem to only make things worse when I play with those little carbs. I would take it to a sears dealer and see if they could adjust it without it costing a fortune.

I took the carb off the blower and was surprised to find that there is no gasket between the carb and the engine. I looked up the carb kit on the Sears sight and it shows a gasket. Called Sears only to be told that they do not sell the gasket seperately and that I need to buy the whole kit. What a bunch of bull:wall:

So now my question is where can I find just the gasket? By the way a correction, the blower model number is 358.797180 (I forgot a "7" in my original Post).

Thanks for the help.

Most any small engine shop should have a gasket. I'd start by replacing that. If you still have problems, try backing out the high speed screw 1/4 turn or so and see what it does. The high speed screw is the one of two closest to the air filter. If still no success, the carb needs to be cleaned.

I have been able to find out that the blower was made by poulan and ordered the gasket only from a local shop which specializes in poulan equipment. Hope it solves the problem. If not I will adjust the high speed as you recommend.

This is a great forum. Again, thanks everyone.