"Won't Start"

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Likewise, use the right kind of oil, and change it regularly. Dirty oil slowly wears down the engine, grinding those vital inner parts and shortening their life spans. Your owner's manual will tell you to change oil something like every 10 to 25 hours. Dennis says twice a season ought to do for most folks.

Cooling fins and the metal of the muffler help keep the engine from overheating (small engines don't have radiators). The fins should be brushed clean as needed, and the muffler should be kept in good condition.

So which would you rather deal with: regular maintenance or regular repairs? It's your choice.

REWIND REPAIR

SOMETIMES AN ENGINE WON'T start because the crank rope just came off in your hand or that cord doesn't zip back into the engine after you yank it. Fixing a pull starter is a little complicated, because you have to fool with the tensed spring that keeps the crank rope in place. The job can be frustrating-if you don't know the Burkholder trick that simplifies it.

Let's say the rope just broke. Unscrew the rewind mechanism from the engine. Handle it carefully-you don't want that spring playing jack-in-the-box on you. Bend up the tabs that hold the plastic rewind wheel in place, and use a little stiff wire (such as a section of coat hanger) to poke one end of your new, same-size, nylon rope through its feed hole in the wheel. Tie that end off. Now here's the trick: File, carve or drill out a little notch in the side of that wheel. That way you can feed the rope in place a whole lot easier. Hook the rope in the notch, and use that to wind it around the center and recreate tension in the spring.

Once you've got the rope well wound and the spring tight, line the notch up with the casing hole to the outside, clamp everything in place with locking pliers or a C-clamp (or a friend's hand), and thread (with wire again, if need be) the string through the hole. Tie on the handle, and bend down the holding tabs. Now you can put the rewind back on the engine.

Things get a little more complicated if the rope's still intact but won't return. In that case, the spring, not the rope, broke. Open the rewind up and snip the spring off flush at the end where it broke. Then, on a Briggs, use a hand file to dig out notches on both sides near the end (study the unbroken spring end for a model). That way you can work the spring sideways into its holding slot and then turn it straight. On a Tecumseh, bend the end back until it will hold in place. You can now wind the spring up tight (don't put it in backwards!), and hold it tense by banding it together with thread (the thin line will break the first time you yank the crank). Or, after hooking the outer spring end in place in the casing, wind it tight with the rope-in-the-notch trick discussed above.

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