Hi I just had a similar problem. It would start and idle poorly for 10 seconds at most then stall especially if I gave some throttle. Then really hard to get to fire for even a sec. I cleaned the carb. Made sure all connections were solid. Compression was195. Had spark. Fresh fuel. Drove me nuts. Cleaned and regapped plug. Would start the cycle again.there was a champion plug in it. I changed the plug to a br8hsa NGK. Runs strong as can be!!! Stupid champion plug. Lol