A little bit of general advise please...

[Ropi Jo]

I've got 2 general questions please...

1. Fuel line.... on a gravity feed to a briggs  engine, is heavy clear sililcon pipe safe? Or will the petrol eat it?

2. On the same engine... briggs 8.5HP, the shroud / cowling is missing from around the fan / flywheel. Regardless of safety concerns.... is this cowling crucial for cooling / airflow?

Thanks.

[Mick]

Hi Ropi Jo, and welcome to TGMForum.

Regarding the Silicone hose.  Unless it's rated for use with petrol I wouldn't trust it. There's different types of this stuff, but if you use one not suitable for petrol it can soften and swell up, and eventually break down completely.  I would recommend getting hold of some proper fuel line either from your local dealer, or online.

The shroud. If you mean the whole shroud / cowling that surrounds the flywheel and covers the cylinder then yes it needs this to direct the air over the cooling fins etc. Running without it for more than a minute or two can / will result in damage.

And as you mentioned, it's not safe and you could lose fingers or if something falls in while running such as a spanner socket etc you could end up knocking a coil off the block.

Hope this helps.