Gt 14 321 kohler triangle coil, no spark slow death

[John Galt 4]

A year and a half ago my gt 14 started to run bad, low power output. Then it quit running as a pulled a load of wood and I couldn't start it again. When I trouble shot the tractor the electronic box was pretty corroded. Then a wire came off. So I replaced the box.  I've drained the gas rebuilt the carb and It fired off maybe three or four sparks. Now, I get nothing. I haven't been able to find the coil that is triangular. This kohler doesn't have any points.

My question is could it be something else?  Any ideas welcomed.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,259]

A year and a half ago my gt 14 started to run bad, low power output. Then it quit running as a pulled a load of wood and I couldn't start it again. When I trouble shot the tractor the electronic box was pretty corroded. Then a wire came off. So I replaced the box.  I've drained the gas rebuilt the carb and It fired off maybe three or four sparks. Now, I get nothing. I haven't been able to find the coil that is triangular. This kohler doesn't have any points.

My question is could it be something else?  Any ideas welcomed.

 

​The finned box looks like an aftermarket rectifier/regulator for the charging system. That simply controls the charging voltage to keep the battery charged up and has nothing to do with the ignition.

The ignition is self-powered and the single ignition wire that goes to the ignition switch grounds the ignition to shut it off. With the ignition switch in RUN or START position that wire should not be connected to anything and the ignition should work. See if you can disconnect that ignition wire near the coil and try again. Doing this will eliminate any chance the ignition wire is grounded and preventing the ignition from working. Remove the spark plug and lay it on top of the engine with the spark plug wire connected to it. You should see spark at the plug tip when cranking. The metal hex on the spark plug needs to be grounded to the engine metal to complete the circuit. A special test plug has a spring loaded clamp so it can be clipped onto the engine but not everyone has such a tool. If you have booster cables clamp the plug hex into one cable end and the other end onto a good chassis ground.

Let us know what happens.

Garry 

Edited May 25, 2015 by gwest_ca

[pfrederi 18,356]

Kohler manual has diagnostics for your ignition system



 

[John Galt 4]

Thanks for your post. I'll try your advise tomorrow. I did have a spark at the plug as you suggested. Then I didn't. Now I have a direction to start trouble shooting. I'll post what I find.

[John Galt 4]

I've done the test as follows. Coil checked at 13k ohms. the diode test with the ohm meter indicates the diodes are good. Src test also checked good.
Could it be the ignition switch? I did get another new plug. Ideas?

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,259]

Only thing I can think of is to remove the ignition wire that goes to the switch from the engine end of the wire. If there is a short to ground somewhere between the coil and the ignition switch it will defeat the ignition. That would also rule out a faulty ignition switch.

Garry

[Rob R 970]

I totally agree with taking the shroud off and chking all the wires first, I had an identical problem and that's what it was, also to prevent damage to the electronic module (it is very sensitive) Wheel horse does not directly short the module directly to ground they put a resistor in the line going to ground, this line and all the connections were loose and shot I completely replaced this and put in the line a larger one (Radio Shack) on the same resistance, carefully soldered and sealed everything with good shrink wrap spaghetti and this solved all my issues. Hope this helps