"Won't Start"

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That's about it for entry-level engine repair. One last Burkholderism and then I'll tell you a story. If your engine starts but runs rough or won't pull under a load, check for 1) contaminated fuel, 2) a dirty air filter, 3) proper spark plug gap or 4) an old plug that needs replacing. Your problem probably comes from one of those four things.

The story's on me. One day this past spring, I pulled out both my mower and my tiller (so I could mow an especially weedy section of my garden before I tried to till it), and neither one would start. I was out there, cranking and cussing two machines at once!

I didn't get either one running until I got some advice from my helpful (and understanding) neighbor, Franklin Sides. Watery gas had stopped my mower, and chain saw gas (the gas-oil mix you're supposed to use only in two-cycle engines) had gummed up my tiller's spark plug.

That was it--I'd proved my stupidity often enough. I went to Dennis and got a two-day small-engine cram course. Then I checked out eight books on the subject from our editorial library, tried to stay awake through all those and wrote down everything I learned.

Yesterday, I took my graduation exam. I grabbed my little Briggs-engine lawn mower, took it through every repair step covered in this article and then tried to put it back together right. It wasn't busted-, but I figured if it still ran after I got through with it, I'd be doing all right.

So I tested the spark plug (once without a block of wood to hold it, and learned that, yes, spark plug shocks do hurt). I blew out the fuel pipe and gapped the ignition (after I got to 'emI had parts everywhere). Then

I carefully, studiously, painstakingly put it all back together ... and had one bolt left over. Egad! Definitely disconcerted, I disassembled again until I found the culprit's hidden home under the rewind.

Then I put 'er all back together, pulled on the crank-and guess what?--it started!

Regular maintenance is a lot less work than emergency repair.

MAN BREAKS IT

READ LITERALLY, THE PHRASE above leaves out half of the human species. Still, this repair shop truism illustrates an important point: Most engine failures are due to operator failures. The person, male or female, running the machine doesn't take proper care of it and, sooner or later, gets to pay the price.

This workshop proverb is an especially important warning for those of us who aren't good at fiddling with engines. To put it one way, the more nervous you are about fiddling with carburetors, the more important it is that you keep cleaning that air filter.

If you want some problems that will definitely have you visiting a repair shop, don't keep the oil level up in an engine. Maintaining oil properly is the single most important step you can take to lengthen the life of a small engine. It lubricates and helps cool the crucial power producing pistons and valves-parts that we hardly even mentioned in this article. And small engines use up their oil more quickly than big ones. So check the level every time you start up.

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