Expert advice on repair, maintenance and gear.
Start a Dead Small Engine
When you’re staring at a yard full of grass that desperately needed cutting two weeks ago, the last thing you want is a lawn mower engine that won’t fire up. Before you have a heart attack pulling on the starter rope of your lawn mower (or in the winter, snow blower), check the fuel and carburetor. They’re the root cause of more than 80 percent of all no-starts. I’ll walk you through the steps to identify the source of the problem.
You’ll need hand tools and a socket set, a can of carburetor cleaner and an air compressor. And you’ll likely have to make a trip for parts. But after an hour of effort, you might just have a working engine, and you’ll have saved a bundle by fixing it yourself. Let’s dig in.
Check the plug
I’ll assume you’ve cleaned the air filter, so the next step is to remove the spark plug to see if it’s wet. If it is, there’s no way the engine will start. So clean the plug with carburetor cleaner (not shown) and let it dry. Cleaning it with compressed air isn’t enough; use a solvent to remove any oil residue. If the plug is wet, move on to Photo 2. If it’s dry, skip to Photo 3.
Denne historien er fra May 2018-utgaven av The Family Handyman.
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Denne historien er fra May 2018-utgaven av The Family Handyman.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
7 Bicycle Maintenance Tips
Keep your bike in tiptop shape and ride safe!
SETTING FENCE POSTS WITH EXPANDING FOAM
Any fence builder knows you need strong posts for a strong fence, and that means backfilling the postholes with a dense, hard material other than dirt.
PEBBLE MOSAIC STEPPING STONES
COLLECT SOME RIVER ROCK AND MAKE YOUR OWN UNIQUE STEPPINGSTONE PATH
EARTH-FRIENDLY WEED KILLERS
HEALTHIER CHOICES FOR HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
DIY! HYDROPONIC GARDEN
FRESH VEGETABLES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
GROW MINI VEGETABLES
GROW A GARDEN IN A TINY SPACE!
BUILD A VERTICAL GARDEN
TIME TO GROW UP!
MODERN WATER FOUNTAINS
A SPLASH OF PEACE FOR YOUR PATIO
9 ALTERNATIVE USES FOR SAWDUST
Every fully stocked wood shop has a table saw. You can usually find a pile of sawdust under it, even if it's used only occasionally. If a shop has a belt sander or band saw, there's probably another pile of finer sawdust under that. Even people without stationary tools have sawdust accumulation on their workbenches.
INSULATE WITH FOAM
IT'S A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO FIBERGLASS