Hello everyone, I modded my Briggs powered mower's fuel tank before I mowed my lawn yesterday and I thought I'd share what I did with everyone. I had a few problems with the stock setup, so I figured I'd fix it. The number one problem I had with the stock setup was that the gas cap rattled loose from vibration. It isn't a regular threaded cap that can be tightened down good, it is one of those quarter turn non locking caps that fits quite loosely and frequently rattled loose from vibrations. The cap rattling loose and causing fuel to splash all over the hot engine clearly isn't a good thing. This is the main reason why I did this mod. Also, since the cap fits loosely, some fuel always drips out from around the cap down the tank onto the deck while its running if I fill the tank more than about 3/4 of the way. Not a whole lot, maybe a couple tablespoons of gas every time I mow.
What I did is I took the fuel tank off an old Tecrapseh mower with a blown engine and put it on my Briggs mower. This is a much better tank because it has a screw on cap that can be tightened down good and absolutely will not rattle loose. The "problem" is that it wasn't a direct swap because the mounting points are different and the fuel line connection comes out in the wrong place, so I had to get creative.
What I did is I used self tapping screws to secure a sheet metal rectangle that I cut out to the handle bars to make a shelf to put the tank on and I drilled holes in it to use zip ties to secure the tank to the shelf I made. I then removed the stock tank and ran a fuel line from the tank to the carburetor and secured it with zip ties. I angled the shelf forwards slightly so the fuel flows towards the engine.
This setup works great! The cap didn't rattle loose while I was mowing and not one drop of fuel splashed out even though I filled that tank about 1 inch from the top. The fuel also stays much cooler because it is no longer sitting 1/2 inch away from the hot engine. This means (slightly) better engine performance and significantly less evaporation of the fuel. Who knows, the EPA may start requiring mowers to be sold this way to reduce emissions from fuel vapors
What I did is I took the fuel tank off an old Tecrapseh mower with a blown engine and put it on my Briggs mower. This is a much better tank because it has a screw on cap that can be tightened down good and absolutely will not rattle loose. The "problem" is that it wasn't a direct swap because the mounting points are different and the fuel line connection comes out in the wrong place, so I had to get creative.
What I did is I used self tapping screws to secure a sheet metal rectangle that I cut out to the handle bars to make a shelf to put the tank on and I drilled holes in it to use zip ties to secure the tank to the shelf I made. I then removed the stock tank and ran a fuel line from the tank to the carburetor and secured it with zip ties. I angled the shelf forwards slightly so the fuel flows towards the engine.
This setup works great! The cap didn't rattle loose while I was mowing and not one drop of fuel splashed out even though I filled that tank about 1 inch from the top. The fuel also stays much cooler because it is no longer sitting 1/2 inch away from the hot engine. This means (slightly) better engine performance and significantly less evaporation of the fuel. Who knows, the EPA may start requiring mowers to be sold this way to reduce emissions from fuel vapors
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