301. Putting a new engine on my Snapper and wiring it. 

Well the comet I have has a 5hp Tecumseh. Haven’t dug in yet but hopefully there’s no issues. Great information👍 thank you

Great class room knowledge 😊

You have saved me a lot of money over the years, Thank you. My 8 hp B&S engine #195707, in my Snapper 25" Comet Hi-Vac Rear-Engine series 6, model #28086S Riding Mower blew a hole somewhere underneath and oil leaked all over. I replaced the original 6 hp in 2002, so can't complain too much. Is it possible to get another engine for this old gal? Can't seem to find one. If so where or what kind? Thank you so much. Keep up the great work. Jan

Jim-First thanks, I have used your videos to fix a few items on my snapper and your advise is spot on. I just blew my engine (rod and starter blew 15 feet lol) the reason was my fault. It was an 87 briggs, I pulled the float pin out and it flooded the crank case / oil with gas and boom, after about 5min of running. Anyway, I replaced the engine with a new briggs 11.5 and used this video to help with wiring. Here is where I got stuck and thought it may help. You simply mention connecting the carb solenoid to the start switch. It took me a few hours to figure out it was not possible with the switch I have. My switch is off, S, M and B and no place to hook up a carb solenoid since B will be hot all the time. Turns out I needed a switch with aux or L and that worked great. Thanks again.

Picked up the black craftsman/snapper, needed the valves lapped, strong runner now, but needed a wiring diagram, of the ignition system, how it hooked up, as the previous owner had all the wires disconnected, of course.... Lol thanks for your showing what and how it works, turned out I had an extra wire hooked up, and it was shorting out the coil, but all is good now.

About 3 years ago i picked up a new briggs 217807-1568 which fit perfectly in place of the 12HP on my 1983 33" RER that had the 12 HP engine throw a rod an hour having it serviced by a local shop. The goofs left the fuel valve on and it flooded dumping fuel into the crank case while they were doing the work i should have done myself.

Thanks Jim this answered one of my questions. On your safety switch video I like what you said about never bypass a safety switch. I can tell you about a guy that did this & lost his arm because he bypassed ever wired safety switch & locked the blades so they would always turn. Very dangerous. Never bypass a safety switch.

Hi Jim, Great job!! Good info. I’ll check my serial no tomorrow. Interesting!

Awesome job Jim, answered all question so far. stay safe

my go to for snapper anything,Jim is the Guru of snapper machines,Thanks

Thanks again Jim, great informative info! 🙂

I got what i wanted what i picked from Ebay used still good parts the old part i bought it last year it came in in 2 weeks and took that part apart painted it to look new and slapped it in his push mower he can't tell if its a new or old part he's a picky person i never told him it was a used part put in so thanks to Ebay and that part hes still using that mower and the old parts still good. I did buy the same replacement part at first off Amazon but the part came broke it wasn't worth bitching about to them over it because i was gonna use the string on my old tiller so the brand new part came broke but i can still use the string so i took the loss on that new part then bought a used one from Ebay its shroud didn't fit so i took it apart and made it fit on his mower

I have heard a lot of engine horror stories but never an engine that exploded from the inside out. Bet you it was a "BANG OUT OF LIFE EVENT" for the owner to say the least.

You're the best Jim.

That's great advice DR SNAPPER

I appreciate the videos Jim, I had a black wire coming from our older Briggs 17hp Twin 2 that was just hanging in the wind and I forgot what it was for, I believe it's the wire for running headlights etc. but I'm still going to trace each wire down just to make sure. Anyway I wanted to share something that I'd never encountered before on an engine until the beginning of this year when grass cutting season began. I'll try to make it short but it was a real head scratcher the way I figured it out, so I noticed towards the end of last summer that this Snapper would not start or run so I took the fuel pump off (it has the Nikki carb w/the 4 screw design) and looked it over and cleaned it, I also sprayed carb cleaner down through the carb to try to clean it up some but the only way that the engine would run was to pour a little gas down into the carb, it wouldn't stay running on it's own. I gave up on it last year and the beginning of this mowing season it was the same thing so I ordered a carb rebuild kit, cleaned the carb real good and rebuilt it, I also cleaned the fuel pump again and reinstalled everything and still the same deal, it would only run when I poured a little gas down the carb. Scratching my head some more I pulled the fuel pump off again and looked it over with a fine tooth comb looking for hairline cracks in the housing, cracked check valves etc. and I got to poking around the little thin rubber washer shaped check valves and noticed that they were stuck to the plastic fuel pump housing, I then took a blunt needle like object, put a drop of oil on the check valves (similar to a round shaped reed valve) and from the opposite side I delicately ran the blunt needle along the outside edge of the valve and worked them loose (they must have been glued down with varnish from old gas). I thought that I had fixed the problem so I reinstalled the fuel pump again and still the same thing, it wouldn't run on its own. Now I'm really scratching my head, I've never had such a problem dealing with an engine that won't run after all of the things I tried so I got to looking over the fuel line and filter, looked inside the gas tank etc and I noticed that the fuel line looked kinda disfigured where it was routed through a couple of half clamps that bolt to the engine through the engine shroud right where one of the heads of the engine is. I assumed that the heat from the engine head over time flattened out the fuel line in that area and was causing it to collapse on itself as the fuel pump put a suction on it trying to draw fuel. I went and bought a new fuel line (black rubber from Advance Auto Parts) and fuel filter and walla, she ran like a kitten after that! That being said I ordered a foot of heat protective sleeve from Ebay, it's a silicone cover over fiberglass, to go over the new fuel line in that area and now have a couple of new 5/8" aluminum line mounting clamps ordered because now I have to clamp 5/8" line instead of 1/4" line because of the heat cover, hopefully I won't have to deal with that fiasco again! Another thing Jim is that I noticed your cough, you sound a lot like me this time of year and it sounds like you have seasonal allergies. I bought a bottle of over the counter generic allergy pills, these particular ones are Diphenhydramine HCI 25mg tablets, and they do wonders, I would be miserable without them, I got them about a year ago at Kroger or Wallmart, can't remember now, and they do wonders for me especially this time of year so give them a shot they just might be the ticket!

Thanks Jim, This session explained how my engine blew up. It did run very fast for the twenty seconds before it blew. I was going to see if Mike had a rebuilt engine but my email was returned for bad address. I guess it is good to have the original books for my machine as it might require me to trace a lot of old greasy wire. (Ha). Till Next Time Bill in S.C.

From Mark In KY. Jim, One other source for small engines would be Small Engine Warehouse which has a pretty extensive product line. My Snapper 30 inch cut RER has a 11hp Briggs I/C engine that more than likely replaced a 8hp Briggs Stratton engine. My Snapper has all of the wiring for an electric starter still pretty much intact surprisingly enough. Someone mounted a Tecumseh pull rope starter onto the 11hp Briggs & Stratton to start the engine. I think the crankshaft oil seal is blown due to all of the oil between the bottom of the engine and engine mounting area. I’m kind of torn between trying to salvage the I/C engine or repower to something else. Actually the Snapper is pretty intact other than the seat being floppy and a rear tire that doesn’t hold air too well. The only bad spot on the mower deck is the discharge area where there is small rotted area. I rescued this RER from being scrapped two to three years ago. My Yazoo S-24 Big Wheel re-power turned out pretty well other than having to go to odd size drive belts. Right now, I am starting to work on my late fathers Yazoo YR-48 rider with a 16hp Cast Iron Briggs & Stratton engine. Wish Me Luck. I brought my Snapper 21 inch push mower home tonight- It’s like having an old friend or family member back home. Thanks & Best Regards, Jim.

Good advice shut the gas off. the older Briggs & Stratton is the way to go for me👍

Some stators are divided so that half does AC over one wire, for incandescent lights. The other wire with the diode does pulse DC as the AC is blocked by the diode, and that charges your battery. The other side of the circuit is to ground. But some stators are wired to put out AC over the two wires, without a diode on one wire, which wires are hooked to a regulator/rectifier which does full bridge rectification to DC for battery and other accessories, including lights, which can be LED.

I was looking for the regularator rectifier on my friends snapper 2812523bve 219977 and only found a interlock module that could be part of it im not sure but that has to be it i read that the module is what makes all the safety switches work but if it were my mower it wouldn't have no safety switches i think on his has only one under the seat and maybe one to the brake pedal someplace under the mower he was having starting problems with his mower not wanting to start either way by key or pull i fixed all that it was a loose battery connection on the red and black and all the connections on his ignition solenoid and plug ins dirty connections im gonna work on his probably sometime in 2 weeks from now just go over all the connections and wiring and im gonna call the interlock module his rectifier so go over that to make sure its clean

Hi Jim HAPPY 2021

Thankyou Jim,

My friends says it was built in 09 but he bought his in 2011 that must be why i seen a old cut ground wire someone else had replaced from the coil to the engines crankcase i showed that to my friend and i said someone else had this mower before you bought it because he never had it in no shop for them to replace the coils ground wire now i wonder if the valve cover goes to his mower I'll bet it doesn't

Inline gas valve is all they ever needed solenoids are unneeded

Jim, the code read out is 08 22 11, 22 August 2011

im not sure if you can fit a Harbor Freight Predator 22 hp, v twin vertical shaft motor to the snapper rear engine rider. as some Snappers had a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard v twin on them. as the predator be a cost effective repower and available at your local harbor freight store.

thanks jim helps alot -need to get rid of that cough get some mountain dew it will fix you right up lol

Sorry to keep asking questions, but I think I have it all wired correctly. The black wire coming off the coil? I re-installed the shorting block from my old INTEK engine, there were three wires attached to that block which is insulated. When I turn off the mower with the key switch does that short out the coil and kill the engine?

Hi Jim, I have a 2004 10HP Briggs& Stratton Engine with pull and electric start on my Snapper rear rider. I notice my new Battery that I purchased this spring was getting weak to turn over the engine mid summer, after checking a couple of things I found the diode in the red wire coming from the stator was completely burned up, nothing left. Can you tell me what size of diode to use to replace the old one, so far I haven't found anyone to answer this question. Mower shops want to sell me a $50-90 new stator. Thanks for all your great Snapper videos, Blessings from one of your subscribers :)

For a 2010 snapper riding mower. I finally got it running. What would you sale one for in good shape

That earlier video was a great how-to. I've swapped 4 engines on Snappers and another on a John Deere 56 rider. I found your methodology very helpful. Another thing to watch out for is that the crank diameter should match the pulley diameter. If it doesn't you can get a spacer to put on a smaller crank, or conversely have the pulley bored out to fit a larger crank. I've done both. I found it also helpful to create an engine stand for fitting and testing, as shown here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SSey5HLHfA4.html

Jim, I have a 2011 Snapper rear engine 28" recently the oil filter came loose, and the engine seized. Now I need to either replace the engine or buy another mower. The problem is there is no replacement for my mower's engine. I have a series of 21000 Power Built 12.5 HP engine, Briggs and Stratton. The only price I can find on one is $900. I am not sure it worth all the effort. The 344cc Vetec sells for $569 but is only 11.5HP, is enough engine for my mower?

Liked. Jim would you be kind enough to direct me to the video where you actually swapped the engines. Can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance

I am talking about the clutch disc with the rubber on it that engauges with the drive disc on the bottom of the engine. The new clutch disc, the rubber disc turns free inside the metal disc with the 4 bolts. Should the rubber be turning free?

Hi Jim, so I have a older 8hp pull start machine. It wouldn’t start at first so I did some trouble shooting and added some oil and it started right up and ran fine. I shut it off using the key/kill switch and now it will no longer start. I changed the oil today and no change. Any other suggestions?

I bought a new smooth clutch on-line does the drive disc turn free? I have not installed it.

What size nuts are the mounting bolts on the RER Snapper motor mounting bolts and nuts??? I’ve lost one and I can’t find one in my can of nuts and bolts

Hi Jim. Thanks for your video, I have had almost all the problems you talked about. The thrown rod after 4 months, fuel leaking into engine on both my Snappers with the Briggs engine. I did put in a manual gas shut off valve on both already.just out of common sense, however remembering to shut it off is key. Now after flooding the engine this time and clearing it of gas, it now has no compression. I just took it all apart, no sheared keys and everything is moving ok inside, valves, gears etc. Now I am stumped. I am ready to replace both Briggs with Honda GXV 390’s. Any comment would be greatly appreciated, Thank you. Klaus

Just bought a “like new 28 hi-vac with a 11.5 briggs. I have a 14/33 that needs drive chain . Can I put/swap my 14/33 engine, onto my 28 hi-vac mower. The 14/33 needs drivetrain work but the 14 h.p. engine is a good Briggs engine. Just want the extra power. The 28 Hi-Vac is from 2001 or so, not sure. Thanks

Anyone know if i can replace a kohler 15hp ohv with a newer kohler courage pro 25 on a snapper yard cruiser?

How do I test an interlock switch on my 2003 Snapper Riding lawn Tractor?

How many volts does my Snapper 28 inch rear engine charging system put out ? I have a LiFe Po ( Litjium style ) battery that I use in it. If the charging system puts out too much voltage can I just disconnect the connector for the charging system when I am cutting the grass ?

Wish I'd found your channel earlier I'm trying to swap a14hp vtwin vanguard and I'm having trouble

Hey Jim, question, I just put my new INTEK 11.5 21R engine on my 2011 mower. No SNAFUs fit perfectly. Wiring. I have one red wire coming from a small black box on the aft side of the engine, has no connectors, and two wires a light gray and a dark grey or black wire, and a connector, female, My old connector is a female with one white wire. Any ideas?

Hey Jim , I have a similar power built ,but with that alternator power regulator and no carb float safety wire. My only problem is I can’t figure out the shorting block issue. You mention the power built doesn’t have one and my looks the same. That’s where I got stuck . You went over to the other motor and how it has a magneto shorting block , but mine just has the control bracket , so now what to do? . Where do all the wires go then? I wired them all the a small screw on the control bracket that was labeled “r”, but I don’t believe that’s right. I have everything wired up , but I have the kill wire disconnected so it starts and the key won’t turn it off, but it’ll turn it on. I removed a 8hp technseh that had the shorting block screw , but I tossed the engine and don’t have any of it.

Hey I got a question my mower was running like crap so I took the head off to check the valves and both valves are turning is that the reason why I'm losing power

Where size wire do I need to to he for my snapper

Hey Jim, swapped an old 14HP Kohler engine to a new 17.5HP engine. It starts and it runs, but it idles up and down and has no power in full throttle. How can i fix it? How to adjust a carburetor or the governor? And which rods do you mean that i have to richten with loctite? Thx from germany☺️

22 is probably the week of the year which translates to a month. What is that June?

where does the gray wire go if there is a voltage regulator

jim your videos are awesome! i am stuck on 1 wire problem. i replaced my 12.5 hp with a 17.5 hp briggs and stratton engine. the 12.5 has a white wire that runs next to starter wire in a harness with a 2 female end prongs on connector. it plugged into connector coming off engine diode wire and a black wire. the 17.5 doesnt have that 2 wire connector with diode to plug into. So my problem is i'm stuck with white wire with female end with white wire DONT no where the hell it goes or what to do with it! i traced it and it connects to battery side of solenoid. Wow sorry. so o no its hot but dont no what to do with it also i have that black little module type thing on this one. Hope u can help and any of that made sense. Thanks John

I put on a new key starter switch, a new solenoid... it won’t start... nothing happens when I turn the key. Yes! The battery is hot... I can’t figure it out

wrong that is a anti backfire valve

Jim. This. Is Tim. When can I pick up the parts.