[.ca] Small Engine Care & Repair: A Step-by-Step Guide to ... (ISBN 158923121X)

Disappointed:
Given the title and the previous reviews of this book, I thought it would give me the information needed to at least diagnose and perhaps repair an elderly lawn mower sitting in our garage. Unfortunately, no such luck. The lawnmower in question ran fine last year until **something** happened in the middle of a mowing. Then it just quit and wouldn't restart. Like many a homeowner, one of the first things I checked was the spark plug. Sure enough, it was completely fouled. Clean it off, still no start -- it's hard to get that much carbon off. So a new spark plug. The mower started up just fine and ran for about ninety seconds. The new plug had already fouled! Okay, it sounds like oil is infiltrating into the chamber somehow. But how? I bought Small Engine Care and Repair hoping to find the answer in a troubleshooting guide. But when it arrived I found that there is really very little troubleshooting information. Yes, there is a troubleshooting section. Fouled spark plugs? Yes, on page 51 but it just talks about cleaning them, nothing about what might cause fouling and how to repair it. Similarly, the book talks about cleaning carbon deposits off the cylinder head but doesn't say much about preventing the deposits in the first place. The only recommendation is to use unleaded gas and clean the head once every 100 hours of operation. To be fair, the book does describe the critical systems of small engines (compression, fuel, ignition, lubrication, etc.) well, shows you how to tune the engine, and routine service. The advanced repair topics -- as far as they go -- look to be well done, too. Photographs are excellent and used with good effect. The book would be great for anyone wishing to perform **routine** maintenance and repair on a small 4-cycle engine. But if you've got bigger problems, pass on it!

The Best of Small Engine with pictures:
Excellent livre pour les Briggs & Stratton. Justes des Photo couleurs et des croquis simples. Supportes les Valves OVH. Et certains 6.5HP Maintenance simple et complexe. Le meilleur comparativement aux Haynes Small Engines qui veulent tout couvrir sur 100 modèles et tout est mélangés.

Great for maintaining & servicing small B & S engines:
This is a great reference for care and servicing of small B & S lawn mower engines. Contains countless photos with illustrations and some tables, but mostly a lot of color photos. Contains chapters entitled "Maintenance", "Basic Repair", and "Advanced Repair". "Maintenance" includes servicing spark plugs and air cleaners. "Basic Repair" includes troubleshooting, adjusting the carburetor, and replacing the rewind. "Advanced Repair" includes overhauling the carburetor, replacing the ignition, removing cylinder head carbon deposits, servicing the valves, and servicing the engine brake. The book does not cover overhauling the engine, but is a great reference for lawn mower owners who want to do their own maintenance.

Excellent Buy:
This is one of the few books I have that I can say is well worth the value. Excellent colour photos in step by step sequence, exploded diagrams, coverage of different models, are all well done. This book gave me the confidence I needed to tackle a major overhaul of a 10-year old mower. And, delivery was 2 days after the order!

Briggs and Stratton sharing their knowledge:
I recently checked out many small engine maintenance manuals and took the gamble on purchasing this one. As I live in New Zealand, their are limited good quality manuals available for reasonable prices. I was very impressed with this manual and my husband said the photos and technical data were very well presented and easy to understand and follow. The information contained in this manual will save you money and give you the confidence to service your lawnmower yourself. Highly recommended, well done Briggs and Stratton. A must for maintenance.