john deere 318

stahlhouse2 · Apr 13, 2015

I have a 318 with the points style ignition, battery was dead so i had the charger on it and barely got it going. run for a short time and started missing and barely made it back to the shed before it quit running, cleaned carb and it didnt help. checked the points and they were barely opening up, so cleaned them and set gap at .21 still not starting. battery still weak need to pick up a new one. good spark at the points very weak spark at the plugs. past year it was starting hard if it sat for a couple days but i can see why the way the points were. whats my problem, i know the battery dont help but would that be my problem or could it be the points and condensor????

Tom Arnold · Apr 13, 2015

What about the high tension wirea that joins the coil towers to the spark pluga? Look for corrosion inside the coil towers. Look for problems with the insulation of the wires. If the insulation breaks down, then the high voltage will leak away before it reaches the plug gap. What about the fitting that snaps onto the top of the plug? Is it loose or corroded? Why not install new plugs that are correctly gapped?

It may also be that the coil is just plain weak from old age. IF there are cracks in the coil towers, then the high voltage will use those cracks to leak to ground.

504 · Apr 13, 2015

I have seen some 318 that have replaceable ends on the plug wires. You can unscrew them and cut 1/16 off the wire and put it back together. Again not all 318 have the hard plastic removable ends, but I have seen at least three of them, and the wires burn out the core.

Dieseltech · Apr 15, 2015

My Onan needed a new condenser when it acted like that last year..

john deere 318

stahlhouse2

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Tom Arnold

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504

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Dieseltech

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