Meandlad 0 #1 Posted August 12, 2017 I have a 1976 C160. I was mowing the yard and shut the engine off to talk to the neighbor, then when I tried to restrart the engine it would not start or fire.changed the coil and the spark plug, still had no spark. When looking further into the issue I noticed that the wiring harness was pretty well burnt up( it was still functioning though because the engine would still turn over. I replaced the wiring harnesss with one from another wheel horse( needed slight modification match). Now the engine turns over when key is in the run position and does nothing in the start position and thee is still no spark at the plug. What is the next thing I should check for the spark issue and what would have changed in the key switch plug to make it try and start in the run position? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,536 #2 Posted August 12, 2017 The wiring diagram in this manual should help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,536 #3 Posted August 12, 2017 15 minutes ago, Meandlad said: wiring harness was pretty well burnt up 16 minutes ago, Meandlad said: replaced the wiring harnesss with one from another wheel horse( needed slight modification match) Not all wiring on wheel horses is the same. What year and model was the replacement from? The fact that the wiring was damaged would indicate that a problem with a component or the wiring was at fault, do you know what caused it? My suggestion would be to remove all the wiring and rewire it using the diagram from the owner manual as your guide. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meandlad 0 #4 Posted August 12, 2017 What could be the cause of the " no spark issue". I don't think it's related to the wiring harness issue as I was having the no spark issue before I changed the wiring harness Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 51,536 #5 Posted August 12, 2017 It could be a multitude of things. Bad condenser, points, coil or no voltage to the coil could be some places to look. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KC9KAS 4,741 #6 Posted August 13, 2017 @Meandlad to Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Searcher60 208 #7 Posted August 14, 2017 When it first wouldn't start but would turn over, the logical thing to do was to check for 12 volts on the coil with the key in the run position. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ohiofarmer 3,156 #8 Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) And also======== Since you pulled the wiring harness from another tractor, i would suggest that you pull the key switch from that tractor as well. I went through something similar to your situation and it was caused by a key switch that tested OK for voltage to the coil and points, but when I turned the key to the cranking position and cranked the engine,no spark because the voltage to the coil went away.during the cranking event only. Sounds like a simple fix, but it was a nightmare to diagnose because I kept making the assumption that once the coil was "on" it would stay that way during the cranking of the engine. Change that switch. If for no other reason you know that it matches the wiring harness Edited August 14, 2017 by ohiofarmer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
