I have a craftsman lawn mower, mid 90's. 14 horse briggs and straton motor has starting problems and no power.
Answers:
Mid 90's? Was this engine stored by running it out of fuel?
Either way, sounds like you need to rebuild the carb. Take the carb off, go get a carb rebuild kit (gaskets and all, they are cheap) and tear it apart (pics along the way help for reference) and soak it in carb cleaner for a hour or so, and blow it out (through all the holes) with compressed air. I'd also replace the inlet needle and seat (some may have a rubber tipped needle and a brass seat, just replace the needle) which is cheap, and its just as added insurance against the inlet needle rubber getting hard and leaking gas everywhere. Also, make sure no water is in the gas.... instead of dumping the perfectly good gas and all, use a fuel drier.
Other answers:
Did you try draining the fuel and taking the bowl off of the carburetor? Sometimes bad fuel and sediment in the bowl will cause surging and poor idle.
Did you try draining the fuel and taking the bowl off of the carburetor? Sometimes bad fuel and sediment in the bowl will cause surging and poor idle.