Troy built tiller

I have a Troy built pony. Original Briggs motor. I had it loaded on the truck and it got rained on pretty good. Now I have no spark. Always starts
on the second pull. This is the second time this year I've had this happen. The first time it happened I put in new points and condenser as they
we very old. Started right up. Now since I know they are new should I just replace them again? Just clean them up? Can a condenser go bad
from rain and moisture? It's a pain not a huge pain, to pull and reinstall the flywheel just to see that there's no spark and pull it all apart again.
So should I just get new points and condenser again to know its solved? Thoughts please,
 
The points most likely got a bit wet so if you let ti sit out in the sun for a while it is likely to start after drying out. Or you could do like I do and install a electronic chip to take the place of the points and be done with it
 
I would just swap the coil out with a newer electronic version and be done with the points, but I would guess it'll start after it dries out a bit.
 
My guess is water caused flywheel to rust. Remove rust on flywheel and ignition module. No condenser and points on newer briggs engine.
 
"My guess is water caused flywheel to rust."

George, George, George, surely you don't believe that old mechanics wives' tale???

I don't and neither does Briggs and Stratton.

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/BS_zpsz5u5mmhz.jpg">
OFFICIAL B/S, scroll down just past halfway
 
Like oldfarmall450 says, squirt some WD 40 on the points and all the electrical system and it will fire right up. I found that out when I used to race Motocross many years ago, you could about run a garden hose on the magneto of my Yamaha if I had sprayed WD 40 on it first. Before I did that, it would sputter and pop when it got wet.
 
BOB,BOB,BOB,BOB, I've restored the spark many times by removing the rust from flywheel. Need an air gap between ignition coil and flywheel, not rust.

It's like a electric motor, if the rotor touches the stator, magnetic induction can't happen. Need an air gap.

I use 3 one dollar bills for air gap. Put bills between magnets and coil. Magnets pull the coil in place. Tighten two bolts holding coil. Better remove bills before starting.

Wise tale or not. This works for me.
 
It would have to be a LOT of rust to fill a gap three dollar bills thick. Usually there's just a thin coating of surface rust, and still plenty of gap.

If the rust were so thick that it closed the gap, a few pulls of the pull rope would knock it right off. No need to sand.

I've been pulled into the fantasy that sanding that rust off would restore spark. It NEVER has. I've always had to pull the flywheel and fiddle with the points to get spark on these old Briggs style motors...

Which leads me to a question: I bought a chipper shredder with a non-running Briggs motor back in the spring. Looks like any other classic 5HP Briggs, no spark, so like 100 times before I opened it up and pulled the flywheel to find... NO POINTS, NO CONDENSER. There wasn't even a place to mount them to the block.

All there is, is a simple magneto coil in the standard location. No electronics.

If all you need is a simple coil and a magnet on the flywheel, why bother with points and condensors for the last 100 years?
 
After you pull the flywheel, point cover, and clean the contacts, when you put the point cover back on, put some silicone around the lip of the cover, especially where the wires go in.
 
With my stubborn Kohler engine I found the points, even new ones right from Kohler, have a coating on the surfaces. give them a little spray of a deoxidizer. Also rub a piece of strong card stock through them. Like on the back of a legal note pad. Sanding them with red garnet ultra find sand paper very gently and only a tiny bit can help too, BUTY as a last resort!. REAL points have a platinum coating on them. If you go crazy with sand paper, files, etc. you ruin your new points. Park her in the hot sun light and let it dry out a little.
 

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