Briggs & Stratton Recalls Engines, Fuel Filters

One of the accidents resulted in a minor burn, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday, Feb. 3.

The engines are used in various brands of construction, industrial and lawn and garden equipment, including vacuum lawn sweepers, air compressors, leaf blowers and pressure washers.

"VANGUARD V-Twin" is written on the engines, which are red or black. There are identification tags on the side of these engines with model number 294442, 294447, 303442, 303447, 350442 or 350447. The tags also show an eight-digit code with the first six digits indicating the date the engine was manufactured by month year and day.

The recalled engines were manufactured between Feb. 15, 1999, and Nov. 17, 1999. Equipment containing the engines was sold nationwide from March 1999 through November 1999. The engines alone sold for about $1,200.

Plastic fuel filters, which are also being recalled, were sold separately for use as replacements and have the part number 808116 written on the bottom of the filter. They were sold for Vanguard V-twin engines manufactured after Aug. 22, 1995. The company sold the filters for $5 from March 1999 through November 1999.

The commission advised consumers to stop using the filters and engines even if they do not appear to be leaking. Briggs & Stratton will install a new fuel filter on the recalled engines free or provide a free replacement spare fuel filter.

For more information, consumers can call 1-800-999-9444 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST Monday through Friday.