very little spark


  #1  
Old 04-19-08, 05:56 PM
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very little spark

I have John Deere 170 ,I got it from a friend that said it had
been worked on 2 (two) times by local John Deere Dealer
Each time it runs for a short time and quits again,they told
him it was adjustments that needed to be made.
When I tried to start it I found there was no fire on plug.I
replaced Coil, and spark plug,would not start. I checked fire
by putting screwdriver in plug wire and holding it clost to
metal part of engine,had to hold screwdriver very clost to metal to get any spark at all, put sparkplug in lead from coil
did not have enough fire to spark at the plug holding it to metal. I have the kill wire disconected from coil.
it has kawasaki engine FC420vo85906.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Thanks
wb1935
 
  #2  
Old 04-19-08, 06:41 PM
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wb,

It appears JD came out with a updated coil assembly to take the place of a coil and igniter assembly. Did your dealer install this updated coil so you have no igniter ?

If so the plug wire boot screws onto the end of the wire, Remove the boot and stick a small nail in the end of the wire then check spark again.

Kawasaki mentions in the service manual that flywheel magnets can weaken over time but I haven't ran across one yet, Just some food for thought.
 
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Old 04-20-08, 05:23 PM
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Thanks for the info. Here are the numbers off the coil box
AM101065 20080215DY2 2828 Can you tell by this if this is the upgrade coil? What does an ingniter look like? I tried small nail in lead from coil after removing boot, no more fire.
I will get new magnet. is there anything else to make fire?
Thanks again for your help. wb1935
 
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Old 04-20-08, 07:19 PM
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The igniter is a small silver box a little larger than a quarter and the small wire from the coil hooks to it then the kill wire comes off of it to the unit harness. They are normally mounted on the side of the engine.

Hate to tell you this but you can't just change the flywheel magnet, You have to replace the whole flywheel and this being a Deere they are going to get their price.
 
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Old 04-20-08, 07:32 PM
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I have the Igniter,is there any way to check to see if it is good? would it help to change it? what does it do?
The magnet on the flywheel is attached with 2(two)screws
I thought you could change it. This is always my luck(bad)
Thanks again.
wb1935
 
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Old 04-20-08, 08:47 PM
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OK,

There are two different style igniter's used on these engines, Choose the one that looks like yours and perform the test with a multimeter.


 
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Old 04-27-08, 07:50 AM
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I replaced coil and igniter, it ran one day. next day I cranked
it and got a phone call, cut it off to answer call, has not started again, very week fire,pulled kill wire off coil no better. If plug is wet with gas or starter fluid it will not fire at all, dry plug it will fire a little.
Thanks hor your help. wb1935
 
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Old 04-27-08, 09:23 AM
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When you installed the new coil what spec did you set the coil to flywheel air gap at ?

Also, You are disconnecting the white wire from the igniter going up into the harness and leaving the wire going to the coil right ?

Did you perform the test I posted for the igniter before replacing it ?
 
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Old 04-27-08, 01:02 PM
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when I set tht air gap on the coil I had gages that i could not read the numbers on so i found one that was good for the original coil and set the new one with it.I did check the igniter with ohm meter and it was out of range. I disconected the kill wire at the coil first, then tried it the way you said. Do you have proper air gap setting? thanks again for all your time and help, wb1935
 
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Old 04-27-08, 07:25 PM
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OK Wb,

Book spec on the coil air gap is .012", I've been using a business card for years on all engines which is .010" without any problems. A business card is easier to use because it bends with the contour of the flywheel.

If doing this doesn't improve spark re-check the new igniter and let me know which you have (top or bottom above ^^^) and I'll post the matching coil test.

One other thing to mention, On electric start engines you want to make sure the battery is good and the starter is spinning the engine fast enough. A slower then normal cranking speed could lessen the amount of energy to the coil for a good spark.
 
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Old 04-29-08, 06:04 AM
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I set the coil air gap with business card the fire is no better,
I have the igniter on the bottom of your chart.
Thanks again for all your time and help.
wb
 
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Old 04-30-08, 05:32 PM
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Sorry for the delay getting back WB,

Here is the test for the coil;




Re-test the igniter and test the coil, If they test good try another spark plug just for giggles. If the coil and igniter is good and another plug still won't spark with the white wire hooked between the coil and igniter but the kill wire disconnected, And the engine spins over as normal the only thing left is the magnet on the flywheel.

Good Luck
 
  #13  
Old 04-30-08, 11:21 PM
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Also I'd like to add that you should replace the igniter with an original Kawasaki igniter, not the ones sold by Deere in the yellow package. I have had bad luck with the Deere ones failing within minutes to hours of installation.
 
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Old 05-03-08, 06:43 PM
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I would like to say again thanks to 31YTech and cheese,
my mower is running for now, I checked the coil per 31YTech
found it to be ok, purchased an igniter from kawasaki dealer
per cheese all is good for now.
Thanks again
wb1935
 
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Old 05-03-08, 08:40 PM
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Good to hear your up and running again.....

Happy Mowing !
 
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Old 05-03-08, 08:51 PM
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Good deal! Thanks for the update. You'd think Deere would have figured out by now that their aftermarket igniters don't work. They have had this problem for years.
 
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Old 05-04-08, 07:34 AM
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Nice information...

Thanks

Itzik Ziv
 

Last edited by cheese; 05-04-08 at 10:13 AM. Reason: removal of urls from message and signature line
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Old 10-13-08, 06:01 PM
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Replacing the igniter works!

Thanks for the great info. I have a JD 170 (in pretty sorry shape) that would not fire the plug at all. I read this thread, replaced the igniter (P/N AM132770) and it now runs like a champ. Thank you.
 
 

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