B&S 120000 series, piece broke off from intake manifold and jammed valve

B&S 128M02, piece broke off from intake manifold and jammed valve

I lost compression on the engine and when I tore it down I found this little piece jamming the intake valve. I pulled the valve to remove it and reinstalled the valve with no issue. Still in the process of putting everything else back together.

It looks like this is some kind of baffle (to smooth the air flow??), is it necessary? The intake looks to be fine other than this piece popping out, so I don't want to buy a new one just for this. There was also no gasket on the intake, but that's another story. I'm inclined to reinstall the intake as-is and toss this little piece in the trash.

Edit: engine model is 128M02 0412-F1

Im inclined to say it is not needed either but you have not given the model number off the engine so can not be sure.

Engine is 128M02 0412-F1

The part fits on 8 (give or take) different engines. I personally would install like it is. One note: In all the pictures of the intake part I did not see the broken off part. Could it have come from some other place?

Thanks, going to give it a shot without that piece.

There are a few pictures that show it
https://www.google.com/search?q=796...5IMKHewiA-8Q_AUIEygE&biw=412&bih=604&dpr=2.63

rlb81 said:

Thanks, going to give it a shot without that piece.

There are a few pictures that show it
https://www.google.com/search?q=796...5IMKHewiA-8Q_AUIEygE&biw=412&bih=604&dpr=2.63

Click to expand...

Does it fit inside the intake? Like right beside the hole at the top.