Car + Garage

Expert advice on repair, maintenance and gear.

- Rick Muscoplat

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.