The invention discloses a gear fault testing method based on a convolution spectrum automatic coding support vector machine. The method comprises the following steps: a vibration sensor is used for acquiring vibration signals of the gear; the acquired vibration signals are processed, and the convolution spectrum is taken; the convolution spectrum is inputted to a convolution spectrum automatic coder and a support vector machine for learning; and the convolution spectrum automatic coding support vector machine is used for acquiring the test result. Through Fourier transform on the vibration signals to take the spectrum, sparsification is then carried out on the spectrum to take the convolution to obtain the convolution spectrum, the convolution spectrum uses the convolution automatic coder for automatic coding and outputting, and finally, the convolution spectrum automatic coding support vector machine is used to obtain the gear fault testing result. Through training and testing during the process, the gear fault damage degree testing accuracy during operation can be improved.