Report an equipment-reference correction

Send the full page address, the exact disputed sentence or figure, the relevant model or serial range, and your supporting source. Identify whether the difference concerns a specification, document revision, arithmetic or wording. Keep a product-hazard report separate from a correction to this publication.

What makes a report checkable

Correction details
DetailExample of useful scope
Page and quoted wordingThe exact oil-capacity sentence, not only “Honda page”
Machine identifiersEngine model/type and applicable equipment serial range
DocumentManual publication number, revision and page
Different value / observationDry capacity versus drained refill, with units
Source URL or referenceThe actual document or dated listing

Two figures can describe different operations

The GCV example separates dry capacity from a smaller oil-change refill. A report comparing those two amounts should identify the operation before treating them as conflicting specifications.

Likewise, a dealer’s asking price and a completed-sale amount are different claims. Give the listing date and package contents rather than substituting one for the other.

Keep safety instructions out of an unresolved experiment

Stop using an instruction you believe is unsafe and consult the actual equipment manual or qualified service. A correction request does not establish that the machine is safe while the question remains unresolved.

Report a dangerous product through the manufacturer and SaferProducts.gov. Use recall checking for campaign applicability and remedy directions. A website correction cannot register a recall repair.

Send the correction with those details. The evidence policy explains why an individual observation, manual specification and regulator notice carry different scope.

About this site

Corrections

A report that a figure here is wrong is the most useful message this site receives, and four things make one easy to act on: the page address, the specific sentence or number you are disputing, what you believe the correct value is, and where that comes from. A report with those parts is normally resolved in a single exchange. What happens next depends on what the check finds.

If the page is wrong it is corrected and its review date changes, with anything touching a safety instruction handled first. If both sources turn out to be defensible, which happens more than people expect, because standards are revised and two editions circulate at once, the page is changed to show the disagreement and name both documents rather than quietly picking one.

What makes a report easy to act on

  1. The page address

    The full URL. "The chainsaw page" is four pages on this site.

  2. The specific sentence or figure

    Quote it. A report that a page is wrong without saying which part takes far longer to resolve, because the first step is working out what was meant.

  3. What you believe is correct

    The value or the statement as you understand it.

  4. Where that comes from

    A document, a standard, a manual, or your own measurement: all three are useful and they are treated differently.

A report with those four parts is normally resolved in one exchange. Send it through the contact form, choosing the correction topic.

What happens next

The page is wrong

It is corrected and its review date changes. Where the error touched a safety instruction or a figure used for an operating or purchase decision, the correction is made before anything else in the queue.

If that is it: You get a reply saying what changed.

Both sources are defensible

This is more common than it sounds. Standards get revised, and two editions of the same document can both be in circulation. The page is changed to show the disagreement and name both documents.

If that is it: The page states the conflict rather than quietly adopting one value, which is what the provenance model exists for.

The page is right

You get a reply saying so and naming the source it came from, so you can check it yourself. Frequently the page was unclear even though it was accurate, and that gets rewritten.

If that is it: An ambiguous page that produces a correction report has a real problem, even when the figure is right.

It is about a specific machine

We cannot diagnose a machine, confirm a part fits one, or supply a figure from a manufacturer document we do not hold. That is a limit of what this site is, not a lack of interest.

If that is it: The manufacturer’s support line and a dealer’s service department both hold documentation we do not.

Reporting a safety problem with a machine

A correction to this site is a different thing from a report about a product. If a machine has behaved dangerously in a way that looks like a design or manufacturing fault rather than wear or misuse, that belongs with the manufacturer and with the Consumer Product Safety Commission: those reports are what identify a pattern across many units and become recalls. Checking a recall covers how that works and where to search.

Check this first

Corrections that touch a safety instruction, a stop condition or a figure someone could act on immediately are handled first. If you think something on this site could get somebody hurt, say so in the message and it goes to the front of the queue.