On one or all cylinders? a single cylinder compression loss may be a stuck or bent valve, or even bad piston rings. Engine wide would have to be some kind of massive valve train failure.
The arrow would normally indicate the front.You said arrows... Is there more than one arrow on the piston in question? What kind of piston?Anyway, a stock or stock replacement piston usually has one arrow or a little notch in it and that is to indicate the front.
need to be more specific on what kind of small engine to give you exact information on how to pull the piston. . . but generally you just need to pull the head and cylinder off. . . the remove the wrist pin that holds the piston to the piston rod and your piston will come out. . . now getting the new one back is is going to be a different story :) . . . you are going to have to stagger the ring gaps to make sure you are holding compression . . . basically just make sure none of the ring gaps on your piston rings line up when you put the new piston back in and oil your cylinder pretty good too helps with putting it in and with breaking in the new piston.
chopped rings
The best rings are made out of precious metals.
hyper-bored is a kind of an oxymoron. drink as many cups of coffee as you can and then listen the all the homilies in church
French Bulldog
a block is not a kind of motor, is is a piece of a motor. it is the part that the piston moves up and down in.
It depends on what needs to be replaced. A rebuild kit can consist of rings, bearings, and gaskets, but can also be ordered with everything but the block and heads.
Bombhead is a sticky piston
because when you are sad or bored they can cuddle up with you and they have some kind of unique face that makes your frown upside down!
This is kind of a generic part number. The "L" usually means it's a forged piston, and the 2416 is the characteristics of that piston. TRW has an L2416-F30. Same piston, just made by TRW.