K181T Beginner Help

[EastTraveler 3]

Hello all, I am fairly new to working on vintage engines and have a fairly decent grasp on the idea of how things work but still learning every day. I have a Kohler K181-T; the issue I was having is that I was getting no spark, I have new points and figured I’d strip everything and replace other essential parts of the ignition system. There is no battery, starts with a pull cord only and it appears to be magneto ignition. I have taken the covers off, have removed the fly wheel, and have identified the magneto ignition coil, condenser and identified how it is wired. The kill wire and the wire connecting from the condenser to the breaker points are both chewed up and will need to be replaced. My understanding is with a magneto ignition the flywheel has magnets on the backside and when it passes over the coil spark is created, I may just be completely overthinking this but my flywheel has no visible magnets on it and appear to be no mounts for magnets, if there are no magnets on the flywheel where would they be at or am I possibly looking at things wrong. I will attach some pictures of what I am dealing with, any guidance is appreciated. Once again I am a novice and learning daily.

[WHX?? 52,439]

19 minutes ago, EastTraveler said:

flywheel has magnets

Normally yes. These are what I call inside out magnetos. The round piece on the crank in the last pic. is the magnet(s). 

This type always gave me fits getting to work proper so I am by no means an expert on them. Others will be along to welcome and offer advice. Many here forgot more than what I know so you have came to the right place for things Kohler. 

the manuals are here if you should need one and you should have one. 

[kpinnc 15,227]

Magnet is on the little wheel in the middle. If it's still good, a wire brush or sandpaper removal of any rust on the magnets tend to help. 

 

Edit: @WHX?? beat me to it. 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:05 AM by kpinnc

[WHX?? 52,439]

1 minute ago, kpinnc said:

Edit: @WHX?? beat me to it.

But yes KP says clean it up and check the air gap. The distance between the magnets and the magneto poles. Should be about the size of a business card. The actual distance is in the manual and you need feeler gauges. 

[EastTraveler 3]

26 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

Normally yes. These are what I call inside out magnetos. The round piece on the crank in the last pic. is the magnet(s). 

This type always gave me fits getting to work proper so I am by no means an expert on them. Others will be along to welcome and offer advice. Many here forgot more than what I know so you have came to the right place for things Kohler. 

the manuals are here if you should need one and you should have one. 

I was thinking that round piece was it! Thank you for help, I will definitely be looking up the manuals! 

[wallfish 18,539]

"Most" of the time there's no need to just replace the parts. Those old parts are of MUCH better quality than anything you can buy today so replacing them just for the fun of it is basically a downgrade. Yes, if the part has actually failed it will require replacement. 

As others stated, the magnets are on the small wheel and not on the flywheel.

New points are coated from the factory and the contacts need to be cleaned before they can make continuity contact. A small file or sandpaper will take that coating off the contact surfaces

Clean up all of the wire connections, clean the points contact surfaces, clean up the magnet surfaces and the pick ups before changing parts 

Edited yesterday at 01:38 AM by wallfish

[EastTraveler 3]

Thank you all for the quick replies, definitely solved my confusion there. Further on this subject-looking at the coil it appears to be connected to the metal bracket and before I start cranking on it to try and pull it off I wanted to make sure it does come off and it’s not built that way from manufacture. It appears to be difficult to find a new coil with little information of this exact one available, so trying not to break this one if it’s still good. 

[EastTraveler 3]

4 minutes ago, wallfish said:

"Most" of the time there's no need to just replace the parts. Those old parts are of MUCH better quality than anything you can buy today so replacing them just for the fun of it is basically a downgrade. Yes, if the part has actually failed it will require replacement. 

As others stated, the magnets are on the small wheel and not on the flywheel.

New points are coated from the factory and the contacts need to be cleaned before they can make continuity contact. A small file or sandpaper will take that coating off the contact surfaces

Clean up all of the wire connections, clean the points contact surfaces, clean up the magnet surfaces and the pick ups before changing parts 

Great advice, I will make sure to do so thank you for the pictures as well!

[oliver2-44 10,894]

1 hour ago, EastTraveler said:

so trying not to break this one if it’s still good. 

 

I suggest there is nothing to be gained by pulling the coil off if it is working. Clean the magnets and  the surfaces that creat the air gap. 

[EastTraveler 3]

9 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

I suggest there is nothing to be gained by pulling the coil off if it is working. Clean the magnets and  the surfaces that creat the air gap. 

I suppose I was getting ahead of myself instead first before ensuring this isn’t broken/faulty. I will check other components first before messing with the coil, thank you for the feedback! 

[oliver2-44 10,894]

4 minutes ago, EastTraveler said:

I suppose I was getting ahead of myself instead first before ensuring this isn’t broken/faulty. I will check other components first before messing with the coil, thank you for the feedback! 

Measure the resistance (ohms) of the coil. The coil is usually good if it does read open ( o ) ohms

The chewed up kill wire certainly could have been grounding it which would kill the spark. 

[squonk 44,332]

Learned something new! My Grandmother used to say, " Don't stop learning till you're dead!"

 

I recently acquired a brand new K181 CC short block that came with a  mag coil installed. It also had the flywheel on and when I removed it, I saw no magnets and thought someone installed the wrong flywheel. 

 

Edited yesterday at 10:02 AM by squonk

[rjg854 12,425]

@EastTraveler   

[WHX?? 52,439]

I suspect that your magneto has been replaced Traveler. The ones I have worked on the coil looked like the one in Sqounkys pic.  

[wallfish 18,539]

So far I've had pretty good luck replacing some burnt out coils with this type of Tecumseh coil (As long as it fits under the flywheel) You cannot find one of those old Bendix coils for a K90 anymore as even the NOS coils have cracked epoxy and don't work.

The laminated steel mount part can be ground to fit if it's larger than the square hole in the coil. It can be shimmed if the coil square is larger than the laminated piece.

This was used at the big show on @Pullstart 's little antique Briggs engine. It fired up!

[Pullstart 67,618]

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,639]

 

[EastTraveler 3]

7 hours ago, wallfish said:

So far I've had pretty good luck replacing some burnt out coils with this type of Tecumseh coil (As long as it fits under the flywheel) You cannot find one of those old Bendix coils for a K90 anymore as even the NOS coils have cracked epoxy and don't work.

The laminated steel mount part can be ground to fit if it's larger than the square hole in the coil. It can be shimmed if the coil square is larger than the laminated piece.

This was used at the big show on @Pullstart 's little antique Briggs engine. It fired up!

You’re not wrong, I spent hours looking for original replacements online and could not find one .Just making an assumption here, to shim it I could just use some thin sheet metal, correct? 

[EastTraveler 3]

6 hours ago, Pullstart said:

 

Thank you! 

[EastTraveler 3]

On 10/7/2025 at 11:26 PM, oliver2-44 said:

Measure the resistance (ohms) of the coil. The coil is usually good if it does read open ( o ) ohms

The chewed up kill wire certainly could have been grounding it which would kill the spark. 

Tested it today and appears to be good, we will replace the other wires soon and hopefully get it going.

[wallfish 18,539]

4 hours ago, EastTraveler said:

11 hours ago, wallfish said:

 

You’re not wrong, I spent hours looking for original replacements online and could not find one .Just making an assumption here, to shim it I could just use some thin sheet metal, correct? 

Correct