OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Fuel line priming

Hi there. I am having a small issue with the fuel line on the Greenfield. It has an 11.5HP I/C Briggs.

It started when I put the in line fuel filter in. It is a clear case with pleated paper inside.

I have run out of fuel on two occassions and it will not draw fuel from the tank. I have to suck it through the line. If I remove the filter it is fine. The wet paper causes too much of a restriction to free drain but I would have thought the gravity feed of the tank level being above tha carb would solve it.

Any ideas on a simple priming system? Are they available?

I am guessing the red round "spinning top" type Briggs filters are a mesh design?

Aldo, I think your design is very marginal if it won't prime itself when the filter element is wet. If you really want to use the filter, you might try just blowing into the top of the tank as a priming system (you must be able to access the filler cap or you couldn't refill it.) Since a careful operator wouldn't run out of fuel unless something unusual happened to cause it, you shouldn't have to blow in it very often, and when you do, you will walk around with a black line around your mouth for the rest of the day, to help you to remember not to run out of fuel next time. Just be glad it isn't a diesel, or you'd have to bleed the system.

As you can see, I'm not very sympathetic. In-line plastic fuel filters on gravity feed systems, located near the cylinder head, are both a fire and a vapour lock hazard. I wouldn't use one.

There are a range of inline filters out there. Most of the easily available ones (usually in auto shops) are designed to be used with a pump, either on the suction side, or the pressure side. Flow rates can vary over a very wide range. If that one is too restrictive, try another one, or get a replacement for the original for $6.60 at the shop

Did it actually have an in-line filter when it left the Briggs factory? If so, I withdraw my objection. This is the first I have heard of it, on a gravity feed Briggs though. Replacing it with one the same as the original, at the same point in the fuel line, should be a good solution.

Edit: I've now found an old gravity feed B&S engine that uses a filter, and the filter looks very much like the one igor54 pointed to. The gravity feed and pump feed models have different in-line filters.