my second 520h

[snowbelter 0]

Had a 1993 520h w/60"deck delivered to the house for.....$650 it has 791hrs on the gauge no leaks of any kind starts right up no smoke forward reverse strong all day all gauges and lights work save one it has a new steering wheel and its 1 year newer than my first 520.... Ok Now The Bad the one gauge that doesnt work is the hour it has a new steering wheel because it was pulled from a barn fire almost in the nick of time all external plastic suffered some degree of melt down it does start right up after a jump i put a new battery in but i think the charging system is not working tranny will run strong all day but after an hour of mowing my flat ground in high heat/humidity i went to my hills (nothing extreme) when climbing i think i lost ignition to one of my cylinders i suspect coil failure due to over heating after cooling down it runs just fine all in all i think i did ok over all condtion is good very little rust except for hood due to fire the deck is exceptional with new blades rubber is very good any advice on diagnosing charging system and ignition loss would be greatly appreciated .

burn victim

[300zx 7]

snowbelter, I would check the resistance on the coil if you have an ohm meter. The following specs are from the Onan service manual. The primary side (small posts and you don't have to unhook the wires) should have 2.9-3.6 ohms. Mine runs 3.7 ohms, but my cheap ohm meter has about 0.5 ohms resistance in the leads, so it is really 3.2 ohms. The secondary side (pull the plug wires and check from one plug wire hole to the other) should be within 14,500 to 19,800 ohms. Of the three failed coils I have seen, one was a dead short on the primary and the other two were open on the secondary. I have yet to see a slow failure, but my experience with Onans is short. I would check these resistances both cold and hot, especially if it quits. If the coil is good and you are still loosing ignition, there are other things you can do to isolate it.

I am sure others can also help you with the charging system.

Congratulations on the new 520. It sounds like a good deal to me, especially with the 60 inch deck.

[snowbelter 0]

thanks for the info 300zx ill give my cheap little tester a shot i think i still have a set of old wires from my other 520 a couple of winters ago i had a simalar problem which turned out to be the coil , regardless if it still has origanal plugs & wires it wouldnt hurt to start with anew set. in mean time i still need to figure out how to post open pictures . thanks again

[snowbelter 0]

it turns out a new voltage regulator and ditching the white plug solved all the problems now its time to start restoring the fire damage (paint hood,replace melted plastic) wondered if anyone here would have parts i need plastic dash,tail light covers and headlight bezel. thanks for the help.