Small Engine Repair

[mcp6453]

I'd love to learn how to fix small engines, but none of my local tech schools offers classes any longer. Are the only courses available online? It's pretty hard to do a hands-on class online.

[Oren]

Find a free dead engine on Craigslist and resurrect it from the dead.

[mcp6453]

Too many gaskets and pins for the uninitiated.

[AZ Nomad]

That is only true if you're incapable of reading a book and following instructions.

[dpb]

That would be my suggestion--go to local library and peruse their collection to see what looks like what you might like for your own.

Or use amazon.com if you're not inclined to travel that far...

There are any number of books on the subject to choose from.

--

[AZ Nomad]

The steps are the same for any gas engine: check ignition, check fuel, check compression. Any introductory book will start with how to troubleshoot.

[Oren]

And, you want hands on? Stay away from spindle bearings or axle grease.

[Bob Villa]

Gaskets maybe, but pins? Not many...you'll find more keys than pins (unless you're talking decks and drives)

[Hustlin' Hank]

Like one poster said.......get a non-running engine and start there. Once you find a fairly common engine (Briggs and Stratton), find the model number and look at the parts diagrams online at no cost. Then try to get it started. If you fail, come back and ask questions here. Hell, many on here may take the time to guide you thru the diagnosis procedures before you try to find the problem blindfolded on your own.

In reality, they are pretty easy to work on. All basic stuff.

Hank

[JIMMIE]

[Red Green]

dpb wrote in news:h1u3k5$c5n$ [e-mail]:

Google produced the trusted Chilton name on one. Check your library, bookstore or online bookstore.

"Chilton's Guide to Small Engine Repair-Up to 20 Hp"

[Ulysses]

That's what I was gonna say. There's only three things that can go wrong with them ;-)

I bought the Hayne's small engine repair manual. Several years ago I knew almost nothing about small engines. I read the book a couple of times and now I can tear one down, replace a piston, valve, governor gear, whatever in a couple of hours. And they work when I'm done. Except some of the carburators are still a mystery to me. You might be surprised how many parts are interchangeable or substitutable between different manufacturers.

>

[mcp6453]

We took the mower to the shop. Their diagnosis was they had to rebuild the carburetor. Of course, that's always the diagnosis. I decided not to tackle it after I took off the air cleaner. The primer was not working, and I couldn't figure out how it was supposed to work. It's as if it had no vacuum.

Maybe I'll find a junk engine and try tearing it apart. There are lots of benefits to having a formalized instruction versus trying to understand a picture or a description. We all learn best in different ways, I guess.

[Jon Danniken]

Sometimes it is fun to learn by figuring it out yourself, too. More frustrating, for sure, but the reward is worth it.

Jon