coil on 2 hp briggs

The primary - the wire that goes to the breaker points - resistance to ground should be a fraction of 1 ohm (nearly a dead short). An open circuit here indicates a bad coil.

And the plug wire to ground resistance should be about 2,500 to 3,500 ohms for a Briggs. Either a dead short or an open means the coil is no good.

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Note it's possible to get "good" resistance readings with both the above tests yet still have a bad coil...

On the newer systems you may not be able to get access to the low voltage primary to test it unfortunately.

Ive had some luck when they dont fire by simply cleaning n de rusting the magnets n adjusting the magnet to coil air gap. If its a newer system (dont use points n condensor like some weed eaters etc) and the magnet passes by the coil n all is okay n the air gap is correct but theres no coil HV output the coil is likely bad UNLESS it has some sort of kill wire circuit (may be on carb linkage).

See if theres any lil wire going to the carb or a kill switch n be sure its NOT grounded out (just remove it n keep off chassis) n see if she fires then ????? ?

John T

On the newer systems you may not be able to get access to the low voltage primary to test it unfortunately.

Ive had some luck when they dont fire by simply cleaning n de rusting the magnets n adjusting the magnet to coil air gap. If its a newer system (dont use points n condensor like some weed eaters etc) and the magnet passes by the coil n all is okay n the air gap is correct but theres no coil HV output the coil is likely bad UNLESS it has some sort of kill wire circuit (may be on carb linkage).

See if theres any lil wire going to the carb or a kill switch n be sure its NOT grounded out (just remove it n keep off chassis) n see if she fires then ????? ?

John T

There's NO real good easy "do it yourself" coil test, although a mower or outboard shop that's been around a while should be able to test it for you with there coil tester.