This is another frequent problem with a lawn mower. It will run for a while and then dies. It could run for a few seconds or it could run for 30 minutes and decide to conk out. It really doesn’t matter to you of course as you want it to keep on running!
A few things you can check is to make sure your fuel is good. Your mower needs clean and fresh fuel to run. If you can take a fuel sample, it should be clear, not have any discoloration other than a slight yellowish color and not have any debris or particles in it. The odor should be strong and not stale.
If you determine that your gas is bad, it will need to be removed from the carburetor and the fuel tank and fresh fuel added.
Another problem is a carburetor that is plugged up. It will run on choke but when it transitions to the main jet, it will stumble and die because it is not getting fuel through that jet. Cleaning the carburetor is the solution for this problem.
Your choke could be stuck closed and cause the mower to run for a short period of time and then die. You can tell this by looking at the open end of the carburetor and seeing if the butterfly is closed or if it is opening as the engine warms up. A stuck choke will cause your lawn mower to not stay running every time.
The last thing is the ignition system. Your ignition coil could be heating up and malfunctioning. When an ignition coil breaks down, it will stop producing power to the spark plug and it will die at that point.
By checking these items one by one, you can narrow down what the problem is and get your lawn mower running once again.
