Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Sorry if this is old news.  I've never heard of this and searched the forum but could not find any mention of it.

Recall Alert

What product is affected?

Briggs & Stratton Models 12, 15, 20, and 21 OHV engines installed on snow blowers.

What brands are these engines found on?

Ariens, Canadiana, Craftsman, Frontier Equipment, Husqvarna, Poulan Pro, Simplicity and Snapper snow blowers.

What is the hazard?

Over priming of the snow blowers engine can cause excess fuel to overflow the carburetor, posing fire and burn hazards to users.

Incidents/Injuries

Briggs & Stratton has received 48 reports of fire associated with over priming. No injuries have been reported. Fire damage has been limited to the product.

What should you do if you have one of these products?

Stop using snow blowers with these engines immediately.

Contact any Authorized Briggs & Stratton Dealer to arrange for a FREE engine repair.

For Frontier brand snow blowers you may contact any Authorized Frontier Dealer to arrange for a FREE engine repair.

You can also contact Briggs & Stratton toll-free (8 AM – 5 PM CT Mon-Fri) at 1-866-478-7855.

For Craftsman brand snow blowers call Sears toll-free (7 AM - 9 PM CT Mon-Sat) at 1-877-659-7017.

This safety notice applies to all Briggs & Stratton OHV snow engines manufactured between date code 000601xx and 070301xx beginning with the following model numbers that are installed on snow blowers:

12A1xx, 12A3xx, 12A4xx, 12C1xx, 12C3xx, 12C4xx, 12D1xx, 12D2xx, 12D3xx, 12D4xx, 12E1xx, 12E3xx, 12E4xx, 12R1xx, 12R2xx

15A1xx, 15B1xx

20A1xx, 20A4xx, 20B4xx, 20C1xx, 20C4xx, 20D4xx, 20E1xx, 20E2xx, 20E3xx, 20E4xx, 20F4xx, 20G4xx

21A1xx, 21A4xx, 21B4xx, 21C1xx, 21C2xx, 21C3xx

Snowbound

     I remember your post but did not catch that it was a big recall involving many machines.  The Briggs recall covers 480,000 engines. 

     The screen you mentioned seems weird.  Maybe it's fine mesh to catch liquid but pass air.  ??  Single stage engines are slanted a bit so gas can run out of the throat if overloaded.  They install a scoop at the throat entrance that extends from the bottom of the throat up to the middle of the throat.  The scoop does prevent gas from running out of the throat and possibly that's its purpose.

    Refering to your thread, it's a surprise to read they would resort to either in front of a customer.  It's not all that cold around the Boston area and a new machine should fire up within a few pulls on bad days.

trouts2

I had the same problem with my sears snowblower.  They came out 6 weeks after the request was made.  The snowblower ran very bad and over heated to the point of no return.  The 2 Year war. expired and sears wanted nothing to do with it.  I got on e-bay and for $99 purchased a Chinese Honda Clone.;  The briggs was an 8.5, this honda clone is a 6.5 and runs and throws snow much better than the Briggs.  Its only been a season and a half with this engine and i love it.  Its so quite I ran the snowblower at midnight and never woke the neighbors!  Sears service center needs a major overhaul in my opinion.  But if anyone in these forums has doubt about the cheap clones, mine runs and works hard, thats what i need out of an engine.

Not all Chinese clones are equal.  I will go out on a limb to say that most Briggs and Stratton engines will be of consistent acceptable quality.  I've seen some Chinese engines in small motorcycles that worked remarkably well and were holding up pretty good.  I have also seen new Chinese engined motorcycles which had virtually no time on them with a busted engine.  There are numerous brands of Chinese engines out there with some very unusual names.   Some engines don't even show the brand name nor country of origin.  If I were to buy a Chinese engine, I'd certainly do my homework to find out what kind of record the brands have.   

Does anyone know what parts they replace for this recall?  OR maybe they add some parts??  I would love to know as I can't get ANY information on this recall except take it back to the B&S dealer.  Well I don't have a dealer close by and I would just like to know that maybe I could fix this myself.  I am a mechanic so this shouldn't be a problem.

Any help would be appreciated...............

Ms Lisa j,

If  I heard correctly, all they do is adjust the size of the primer orifice,  that way it takes twice as long to prime the motor to start it.

They original primer assy. setup is fine on all other models of  Briggs engines of the same family..

The problem lies with the fact that these engines sit for months with old gas during spring -summer and fall... 

The gas goes bad.  The engine will not start, PEOPLE believe that all they have to do is keep pushing the prime button on the motor and it will start. 

This and the fact most snow throwers have a plug in 110v starter (not a battery starter that will give up)

So the moral of the story is, that if you keep on pumping gas at it and you keep on cranking it (no sweat, electric 110v starter right?),  and fuel starts dripping from both ends,  carb and muffler,   something is going to  burn..  

With the invention of the 110 volt plug in starter,  fools never get tired of trying..  

Good Luck,

Friiy

Hi Friiy.........

       Thanks so much for your comments on the Brigg's snow engine recall.  You're response makes sense to me.  In my continued research it was mentioned that maybe they install a backfire surpression screen over the carb. intake instead of the course screen that is there now.  My engine starts on the first pull with priming and the second pull if I just use the choke.  The primer bulb on these engines is large and does have the capacity to over prime.  I took the cover off the engine so I could look into the carb. and actually see how much fuel goes in and how and so now I don't over prime.  Two shots and that's it..........  But again I have not run into a Brigg's rep or mechanic that is willing to discuss the fix.  They all have the same party line, "bring it in and we'll take care of it, no charge".  Good deal if they were close to me  to do that but for me it's a hassle, more then the freebe is worth.   

Thank again Friiy for the help.  I really do appreciate it....

                      Lisa