not necessarily. there are 3 things it could do. 1) not run at all 2) not idle (have to hit the throttle to keep it running) or 3)like they said, only want to idle. it depends where the defect is. it works off of two switches. one on top of the carb, and one in the throttle box. the way it works is when the throttle is closed, both switches are closed. when the throttle is open, both switches are open. if one switch is open and one is closed, it kills spark.