Briggs & Stratton 16HP problems

Mounted on 2013 Snapper Rotary Brush Cutter. New last summer & ran about t hree tanks of gasoline (with stabilizer) through it. End of season closed f uel valve and ran 'til empty. Then disconnected fuel line and emptied tank completely. Yesterday filled halfway with new gasoline with stabilzer. St arted and ran fine for about 20 minutes and then quit. Plenty of fuel in ta nk. Will not start. Fires one or two times and quits. Any suggestions?

Reply to
Frank Thompson
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Check for spark at plug?

Check and/or replace spark plug?

Is spark plug wet?

Check gas tank vent?

Fuel line plugged?

Carburetor/intake manifold mounting bolts tight?

Reply to
Jimmy

Frank,

Too little information to really tell. Sounds as if it's not getting gas. My first guess is to take off the gas cap and see if it runs. There's an air valve (a flapper) that let's air into the gas tank as the fuel level drops. You may need a new one. Check this valve.

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

+1 to the advice so far. You just have to follow the basic diagnosis procedure. Start with the simple stuff. I'd start with finding out if it has spark. Next, gas getting to carb? etc.
Reply to
trader_4

Hmmm, My first check would be ignition module. Make sure there is good spark.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

three tanks of gasoline (with stabilizer) through it. End of season closed fuel valve and ran 'til empty. Then disconnected fuel line and emptied tan k completely. Yesterday filled halfway with new gasoline with stabilzer. Started and ran fine for about 20 minutes and then quit. Plenty of fuel in tank. Will not start. Fires one or two times and quits.

try removing the sparkplug and squirt some gasoline into the hole, reinstal l plug connect wire.

often this works here. the engine must draw a bit of vacuumn on the gas lin e and things run fine.

my mower was new last year, so its well less than a year old, but this is h ow i got mine running for the first time this year

Reply to
bob haller

New last summer & ran about three tanks of gasoline (with stabilizer) through it. End of season closed fuel valve and ran 'til empty. Then disconnected fuel line and emptied tank completely. Yesterday filled halfway with new gasoline with stabilzer. Started and ran fine for about 20 minutes and then quit. Plenty of fuel in tank. Will not start. Fires one or two times and quits.

One of the brands had bad insulation on the ignition coil. One of the many things might be, is clogged cooling fins and coil over heating. Could also be valve clearance. Or cheap motor oil. These three conditions can cause the 20 minutes and dies symptoms.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

20 minutes band quit? try running with gas cap loose...

if the vent on the cap fails the engine will run till the tank vacuumn stalls the engine. thats occured to me...

Reply to
bob haller

One thing to add to the other advice: does it have low oil shutdown? A lot of larger engines do. I had a tiller that was just a little low on oil. It ran fine sitting there, but when it was in use the angle of the engine changed a bit when the tines dug in and it was enough to trip the low oil shutdown.

Paul F.

Reply to
Paul Franklin

Thanks for all of the excellent suggestions. After having systematically g one through every thing suggested, because of the newness of the machine I just don't see a high probability of most of the components causing problem s at this time. My #1 hunch is that a piece of trash somehow got into the fuel system (albeit the fuel was purchased last week).

I fooled around with that & believe fuel is getting to the carb and now my best guess is that it is electrical... specifically something to do with on e of three switches related to the machine supposedly cutting off if operat or lets go of bar across the horizontal handle which op is suppose to grip when the machine is operated. So far I've been able to locate 2 of the 3, but from their appearance they appear to be cheaply made and are good candi dates for early failure.

My next problem is to isolate the assumed bad one. This bothers me because the furnished Snapper owners guide is a copied version and the extremely fine print is almost impossible to the decipher on the wiring diagrams. O ne of the issues is that neither of the guides (Snapper machine made here i n GA and the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine made in Japan or China) trea t the issue in a comprehensive manner... both claiming to not address speci fic models. Neither is accurate in their presentation of the cut-off swit ches.

Reply to
Frank Thompson

Frank,

What draws your interest to the cut off switches? When the mower is not working do you have spark? Here's an easy test. Get some aerosol starter fluid. when it won't start give the airfilter a healthy squirt of the fluid. Now try to start. If it starts up then suspect gas or carb problems. If it won't start suspect electrical problems. If you can't read your poorly copied diagrams, there are diagrams on the internet and many public libraries have "how to" manuals.

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

having systematically gone through every thing suggested, because of the newness of the machine I just don't see a high probability of most of the components causing problems at this time. My #1 hunch is that a piece of trash somehow got into the fuel system (albeit the fuel was purchased last week).

to the carb and now my best guess is that it is electrical... specifically something to do with one of three switches related to the machine supposedly cutting off if operator lets go of bar across the horizontal handle which op is suppose to grip when the machine is operated. So far I've been able to locate 2 of the 3, but from their appearance they appear to be cheaply made and are good candidates

for early failure.

This bothers me because the furnished Snapper owners guide is a copied version and the extremely fine print is almost impossible to the decipher on the wiring diagrams. One of the issues is that neither of the guides (Snapper machine made here in GA and the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine made in Japan or China) treat the issue in a comprehensive manner... both claiming to not address specific models. Neither is accurate in their presentation of the cut-off switches.

That's quite a list of things to check. I look forward to reading what the real problem was. Thanks for writing again.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

gone through every thing suggested, because of the newness of the machine I just don't see a high probability of most of the components causing probl ems at this time. My #1 hunch is that a piece of trash somehow got into th e fuel system (albeit the fuel was purchased last week).

y best guess is that it is electrical... specifically something to do with one of three switches related to the machine supposedly cutting off if oper ator lets go of bar across the horizontal handle which op is suppose to gri p when the machine is operated. So far I've been able to locate 2 of the 3 , but from their appearance they appear to be cheaply made and are good can didates for early failure.

se the furnished Snapper owners guide is a copied version and the extremel y fine print is almost impossible to the decipher on the wiring diagrams. One of the issues is that neither of the guides (Snapper machine made here in GA and the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard engine made in Japan or China) tr eat the issue in a comprehensive manner... both claiming to not address spe cific models. Neither is accurate in their presentation of the cut-off sw itches.

Instead of finding all 3 switches, another approach is to look at the wiring diagram, understand what they do and you may be able to just bypass all of them at some convenient access point. If they act in series for example, if you can jus t identify the endpoints, you don't need to find all the switches. It also eliminates problems in the wiring, etc.

Reply to
trader_4

Just disconnect the "p lead" from the mag - that's the wire that is grounded to kill the engine. This will eliminate low oil shutdown as well as all safety switches as the cause.

Reply to
clare

And he should find out if there is or isn't spark. AFAIK, he hasn't even done that yet, it's just his current guess that it's electrical.

Reply to
trader_4

The fact it ran well when put away last year and now does not would tend to point to fuel - unless it was stored in a shed with a chipmunk that likes chewing on wires. Little buggers are cute but can do a LOT of dammage. (did over $1500 to wife's car 4 years ago?

REAL easy to eliminate electrical problems by simply disconnecting the wires. Nothing needs to be connected to run (except possibly the starter to turn it over)

Reply to
clare

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP

Thank you for this. Valuable knowledge!

Reply to
Tekkie®

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP

You are spot on with this. Tree rats will do this too. Wifes car and former mower. My neighbor has cataracts so I may have to sight my rifle.

Reply to
Tekkie®

You're going to shoot your neighbor? Some how that sounds out of character for a fine gentleman as yourself. Der eugenics, mein herr? Shootenzie Hanzicapperneighbor?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Finally gave up on prob & called dealer to pick up & repair. Trash in carb was the prob. In over a half century with gasoline small engines have never had this prob other than damage done by the fuel itself .. old gasoline &/or gasoline with alcohol.

Reply to
Frank Thompson

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