My feeling is that Briggs and Stratton now makes a poor quality product. They get absolutely HORRIBLE ratings on the Consumer Affairs website. My 10 HP OHC broke down after about 100 hours of use and excellent/impeccable care on my part.
Obviously BS makes it difficult for me to try to fix the engine myself.
My question is, is it worth it for me to pay the $100 minimum to have a small engine repair service repair the engine or should I just go to Harbor Freight and buy a Predator replacement for $350?
How can anyone answer your question, when as stated, you don’t tell us your problem. Personally I feel you will be taking a step down if you try to replace a Briggs with a Predator. Parts are not readily available and the service techs must rely on experience to replace simple tuneup parts. You say reviews on the internet call them bad, but did you know that people are a hundred times more likely to post a bad review than a good one. Your problem may be a $10 fix, but we can’t help you unless we know what it is.
