Golden Jubilee - no spark?

jrowen135

Member
Was trying to diagnose a hydraulic problem when I encountered another problem - engine won't start. First battery was dead, so I charged it and it's fine. Engine turns over well but it didn't seem like I was getting any spark. Used multimeter to check voltage drops. I get 12v across battery terminals. I get about 5.6v at all of the following points: wires at coil, coil wire connection to distributor, inside distributer where coil wire goes through distributor housing, wire to condenser, and one side of points.

I then hit starter button to see what would happen at points. I was thinking I should see a spark, but I did not.

I then reassembled distributor, pulled wire off one of the spark plugs, pulled back rubber boot, and checked to see if I got a spark when holding end of wire close to engine block. No spark here either.

Is this simply an issue of bad points? Supposedly, the points were replaced immediately prior to me purchasing tractor recently, but I've had other issues that I was probably misled on.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. If there's another thread I can read instead of rehashing everything here, that would be fine too.

This is all new to me and I enjoy learning it but can be frustrating because it takes me so long to do things due to learning it all from scratch.
 

12.0 volts is not a healthy 12 volt battery. fully charged, your battery should read ~ 12.65 volts. that could be all that's wrong. weak battery = weak current to coil, particularly when starter is engaged, which can = no spark.
 
A little moisture or dust in your
points will cause issues. Fold up
a $10 bill ( cleaner than a $1)
and rub it through the points a
few times. Sometimes it's a simple
fix......
 
Pop the cap and turn the key on. You should be able to get spark from the coil wire if you open and close the poings with a screwdriver. Most likely you just need to clean/file and regap the points.
 
"I get 12v across battery terminals. I get about 5.6v at all of the following points: wires at coil, coil wire connection to distributor, inside distributer where coil wire goes through distributor housing, wire to condenser, and one side of points."

Coil wire connection at side of distributor should be battery voltage with points open, zero volts with points closed. With 5.6V I would suspect leakage (higher resistance short) at the feed through on side of distributor or somewhere in the points/condenser assembly.
 
you need to lay the spark plug on the engine. it has to be grounded. don't hold it unless you want to get a small shock. if you don't get a spark from your plug I would clean and re gap your points. if your points are pitted it wont conduce any electricity. you should have 6 volts on the wire from the coil that hooks onto the distributor. check that and if there's 6 volts have someone turn your engine over. you should see a momentary zero at that wire which will indicate the points has opened. if voltage doesn't change then you have a point or condenser problem.
 
(quoted from post at 13:58:48 10/24/18) Why was the battery dead? Was the key left on? If so, you may have burned the points.

Well the initial cause of the battery going dead (or close to it) is that I was dumb and was attempting to start the tractor without the ignition turned on, and wore the battery down. Jumped started the tractor using a battery pack jump starter, and tractor fired successfully. However, it wouldn't start again and battery seemed to be dead again. Jumped off my pickup truck and it wouldn't start. Then charged up the battery at 2 amps, so now my battery is charged up well.

I removed the points and took a look at them, they looked fine to me as well as a mechanic friend. Filed them a little anyway for good measure. Reinstalled points, set gap to 0.025". Also got new plugs because I didn't think mine looked too great. Made an attempt at setting ignition timing which I think I did correctly in accordance with owner's manual. Still no starting or no spark (held spark plug up to block). Still get half the battery voltage when going from coil and distributor connection inside and out of the distributor housing. Also voltage goes to 0 when points close (like it should?)
 
Do you have a test light? Connect the test light to ground and touch the small terminals on the coil. One side should light the test light continuously with the key on engine turning over. The other side should blink on and off as you turn engine over. If you're checking for spark use the coil wire. If you get spark at the coil wire but none at the plug the problem is between them like the rotor or cap.
 

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