K321s Breakerless ignition

[Lagersolut 802]

I was called to help the FIL on a no start - no spark Kohler K 14hp - loaded up my bag with tools - points - plugs - wires etc etc only to get smacked right in the face with a short lived ( unknown to me ) breakerless magneto ignition  - on a 1974 power king economy . 

 

A little  reading this was a common failure point on these engines - Kohler went back to points and quit making replacement parts - for a short time they offered a conversion kit for some . 
 

Are there any sources for the trigger or magneto ?  I’m drawing a blank even coming up with the old part numbers to search for aftermarket or NOS . Reading the interwebs forums from 15-20 years ago some were saying the parts if you could find them were astronomically high in price  and you were taking a chance on another bad one . 

 

The block has the holes for points and a cover but I didn’t look close enough to see if they were threaded and seems getting the dust cap out for the points plunger rod is a real bear . I came home to research and regroup - the tractor is no longer in front of me . 
 

Any advice or direction ? 

 

 

 

[kpinnc 18,976]

1 hour ago, Lagersolut said:

Any advice or direction ?

 

You are headed the right direction. Remove the dust plug and add points. You'll need a pushrod (likely can make one if you google it) for the cam lobe to activate the points. Then add a coil (internal resistor) and condenser. 

 

Then you'll need to rewire for coil ignition. That usually means a new key switch to work with coil ignition. 

 

Sounds like alot, but it isn't difficult. It's also usually cheaper than another magneto module if you can find it, and whether it's a good one or not is a gamble. 

 

Just an afterthought: on the bottom of the module, there is a single tab and connector. Did you clean it to see if it made a difference?

[pfrederi 21,181]

[Lagersolut 802]

59 minutes ago, kpinnc said:

 

You are headed the right direction. Remove the dust plug and add points. You'll need a pushrod (likely can make one if you google it) for the cam lobe to activate the points. Then add a coil (internal resistor) and condenser. 

 

Then you'll need to rewire for coil ignition. That usually means a new key switch to work with coil ignition. 

 

Sounds like alot, but it isn't difficult. It's also usually cheaper than another magneto module if you can find it, and whether it's a good one or not is a gamble. 

 

Just an afterthought: on the bottom of the module, there is a single tab and connector. Did you clean it to see if it made a difference?

Yea everything was clean - the tractor is in a barn a lot of stuff needs to come off to get to and into the blower shroud - checked as far back on the wires as I could - zero . 30 miles from home took everything I needed to get a points ignition back up - I had points and a plunger in my tool bag . Not near enough to tear the front of a tractor down . 

 

This is unchartered territory for me on a K series - do you know off the top of your head are those holes for the points and cap are tapped - checked the block had them - didn’t think to look for threads assumed they were … after I got home it hit me I may have thought wrong 

 

I have ignition wiring diagrams here for my 416 and C101 I’ll use those a reference and for the ignition switch # . 
 

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Lagersolut