1982 - C-145 - No Spark - Complete Rewire, coil, points, & condenser. No Clue

[Kody Bob 17]

C-145 - I have a little history with... was having trouble getting it to turn over which initiated the complete rewire. Replaced the ignition switch and connected the ignition pigtail to all new wires. Eliminated all of the safety switches when I put together the new harness. Finally got it to turn over and fire. I let it run for a couple minutes and then it just quit. I have not had spark since then.

 

The thing has new coil, points, and condenser on it. I wasn't sure the condenser was getting a good ground so i ran a wire from the mounting screw for the condenser over to where the battery grounds. Are there any other grounds regarding the ignition circuit that I can do the same with? I am at a loss as to what else it could be. The ignition circuit is very simple but I cant seem to get spark.

 

white wire from ignition switch goes to positive side of coil. 1 wire from neg. side goes to the condenser and another wire from neg. side goes to points. i have continuity at both ends of all of these wires.... how could it not have spark??? Thanks in advance for any help.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Kody Bob

[Achto 26,505]

Do you have battery power on the + side of the coil when the switch is in the on position?

Does the new coil have an internal resistor?

Are your points still opening & closing?

Try running a dollar bill through the points while they are closed to clean them.

 

[squonk 38,844]

Grab a 12volt test light.  Probe the negative side of the coil. It should flash/blink while cranking. If it stays lit, points. No light at all, bad coil or no power to it. 

[Kody Bob 17]

Achto, I believe i have power with the switch in the on position - i will confirm tonight when i get home. Points open and close as they should, gap is set, and timed with the mark on the flywheel. I am not 100% sure about the internal resistor though... the packaging it came in references the correct kohler part number though, so i would assume it is the same.

 

squonk, awesome suggestion. I will pick one up on my way home today and test it out tonight.

[Achto 26,505]

25 minutes ago, Kody Bob said:

... the packaging it came in references the correct kohler part number though, so i would assume it is the same.

 

I have purchased a coil with the right part number on the package but had the wrong coil inside the box. This is why I asked. There should be writing on the coil it's self. Make sure that it does not say "Requires external resistor"  or some thing to that effect on it.

 

If your points don't seem to be working try cleaning them up with a dollar bill before replacing them.

[953 nut 51,532]

Gapping the ignition points at .020 has always been the standard answer to how points should be set. That probably will get you into the ballpark where the engine will run, but with a bit of additional effort you can improve the engine’s power and performance.

The Kohler engine manual in the Red Square files section covers two methods for setting the ignition timing, Static Timing and using a Timing Light. This manual is a relatively new manual and it overlooks the fact that many of our engines were built prior to the ACR (automatic compression release) camshaft.

Earlier engines (mostly 1965 and earlier) had a Spark Advance camshaft that can not be timed using Static timing. At rest (and very low RPMs) the timing is retarded to fire slightly after TDC. The timing mark (SP) on your flywheel is at twenty degrees before top dead center but at rest the points on these engines break about ten degrees after top dead center. The only reliable way to check or set the timing on these engines is with a timing light.

There are a couple ways to determine what camshaft you have. Presuming the camshaft in your engine is the one it was born with the data plate on the engine has a suffix that can tell you what camshaft was used. The table below will tell you the suffix applicable to your engine. The other way to determine what camshaft you have is to remove the cam gear cover and take a look. If you see a mechanism attached to the cam gear it is the ACR cam.

 

 

The following engines have the spark advance camshaft;

K-141, Suffix prior to “C”

K-161, Suffix prior to “J”

K-181, Suffix prior to “D”

K-241, Suffix prior to “D”

[squonk 38,844]

New points oxidize while in the package. Even if they look alright,clean them as Dan suggested.

[wallfish 15,908]

New points come with a coating on the contacts so they need to be cleaned prior to use.

Besides power to the coil while key is in ON position, you should also have 12v power while in the start position. The new switch must be designed for a battery ignition. It will have an I indicated on it near the electrical post for ignition. If it's for a magnito ignition, it won't work correctly.

[Tuneup 1,416]

It's a C-145 so it has the floating mount. Check your grounds. Check the impedance from the battery negative to the coil negative with the points closed and that there is batt voltage at the coil positive points open or closed. All that is good, new coil is bad. I had the new NAPA coil on my C-125 crap-out in 10 minutes.

[Kody Bob 17]

26 minutes ago, Tuneup said:

It's a C-145 so it has the floating mount. Check your grounds. Check the impedance from the battery negative to the coil negative with the points closed and that there is batt voltage at the coil positive points open or closed. All that is good, new coil is bad. I had the new NAPA coil on my C-125 crap-out in 10 minutes.

I know the engine mounts are pretty well worn, the engine shakes a good bit and you can see the rubber is pretty well degraded. Is there a fool proof way to give the points a good ground? I already have a ground strap running from the condenser to where the battery grounds.

[Kody Bob 17]

I didnt get to try the test light last night but hoping to give you guys some answers tonight. I will also give the points a good rubbing with a dollar bill... shoot might even see if President Lincoln can help me out.

[Tuneup 1,416]

Is the grounding strap from the shaker plate to one of the rubber mount through-bolts? You can replace the mounts with solids. I have to do this myself - they're shot. Check the impedance from block to battery. Should approach zero. If you don't have a DMM, jumper it to test. Yeah, it's a very simple circuit so, all the grounds being OK, it might just be a toasted coil. You could pull the capacitor just to test - could be shorted. I don't recall if you did that...happy weekend!

[953 nut 51,532]

10 hours ago, Kody Bob said:

I didnt get to try the test light last night but hoping to give you guys some answers tonight. I will also give the points a good rubbing with a dollar bill... shoot might even see if President Lincoln can help me out.

A Benjamin would be best!               

 

[Kody Bob 17]

Just wanted to provide and update/resolution to my issues with getting spark on my c-145.

 

Basically went in and scrapped the wiring harness i had made originally which has all crimped connections. I bought a soldering gun, and some heat shrink material, and redid the entire harness w/ all solder/heat shrink connections. After this I installed the points (adjusted to .02 gap) cleaned contacts, and then installed a new coil and condenser. I noticed where my condenser mounted to the tin on the engine that the metal was cracked a bit, so i made up a ground strap and ran it back to where the battery ground is just to make sure I was getting a good ground (Could this be what burned up my last coil so quickly as well???). Once done, i turned the key and she fired right up. No issues since then. Only now i see I've got a leak in the hydraulics somewhere (looks like the cylinder under the left footrest).

 

Thanks for the help boys.