Small Engine Repair Manual

Test it. Read it. Fix the one thing that failed.

A gasoline engine needs four things: fuel, spark, compression and air. This small engine repair manual shows you how to test each one with simple tools, read the result as pass or fail, and fix only what the test points at. Then you run the same test again to prove the repair. No guessing, no pile of parts that changed nothing.

What is inside

• The four tests, step by step. Spark tester, the one-shot fuel test, the pull test and leak-down, the air and exhaust checks. Every test gives both outcomes and where each one sends you.


• 18 flowcharts. Will not start, starts then dies, surges, smokes, loses power, hard to pull, vibrates, backfires, will not shut off, overheats, plus charts for mowers, snow blowers, generators, chainsaws and governors.


• Machine by machine chapters. Walk-behind and riding mowers, snow blowers, portable generators, chainsaws, string trimmers, leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, pressure washers, tillers and log splitters, and a chapter on battery-powered equipment.


• 79 worked repairs, including a Job Book of 30: the complaint, the readings, the diagnosis, the fix and the test that proves it. Cover the diagnosis and work it yourself.


• 50 labeled line drawings made for this book: carburetor cutaways, ignition module air gap, governor linkage, valve lash, recoil starter, interlock circuits, belt routing, chain sharpening, generator output and field flashing.


• Typical specs with the rule that matters: plug gap, coil air gap, valve lash, idle and top speed, oil by temperature, two-stroke mix ratios, chain file sizes, each labeled typical, with how to find the exact spec for your engine from its model and type numbers.


• Carburetor chapter for a first cleaning, float and diaphragm types, done within the limiter caps, plus fuel storage, winterizing and spring start-up.


• A safety box on every procedure and current rules in plain words: E10 and the E15 ban for small engines, emission controls and tampering, generator carbon monoxide and backfeeding, California's rules for new equipment.

Built for the gaps buyers find in other books

• No specs? Typical values in every system chapter and a quick reference at the back.


• Outdated? Current engines with overhead valves, electronic ignition, fixed-jet carburetors, auto-choke and low-oil sensors.


• Too basic? Every procedure can be done from the page.


• No chainsaw coverage? Full chapters on handheld two-stroke tools.

Who it is for: owners who would rather fix it than pay a shop or buy new, apprentices and shop helpers, farm and property hands, and anyone who brings dead machines back to life.

Two things to know before you buy

• Black ink inside. Drawings, flowcharts and tables print in black and gray, 8.5 x 11, 272 pages.


• Perfect bound, so it settles flatter with use. It works alongside your engine's own manual, which holds the exact specs for your model.

Independent reference. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any engine or equipment maker, EPA or CARB.