Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I turned the key on and have no spark from the plug or even the plug wire when turning over the engine

How do I know if it is the coil magneto or the xstar module magneto?

It is a model 38180

Gentlemen,

Stopped by a local repair shop this morning (where I purchased the used coil).  He is going to see if he has a used flywheel I can try which has 3 strong magnets on it.  One would think that if 3 magnets are installed, they all should have a strong "pull" to them...not just one of the three. 

I must buy a briggs spark tester though!  What I am seeing is this.  When I hold the spark plug to the engine block, I will engage the electric starter for say 5-8 seconds.  During this time, I will see a good spark but then it stops sparking after a second or two.  Subsequent attempts will simply result in a "wimpy" spark or no spark at all.

Here is an interesting link regarding magnets on flywheels which I found on a search:

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60985

Hmmm, that was an interesting read. FWIW, you can get neodymium (rare earth) magnets off eBay. I also found some at the hardware store. Those are likely the type used in hard drives, referred to in that link. Just as another option, if you don't have a hard drive you can disassemble. I can't imagine that the magnets in drives can be very large, either. The heads are very small, and need to be able to move very quickly. So I'd expect you could substitute another source for powerful magnets.

It sure sounds worth a shot. You have tried closing the plug gap way down, right? To, say, 0.010" or so? Might show whether or not you can still maintain a spark that way. Is it possible that, while cranking, the plug starts to move around and loses good contact with the block, hence losing the visible spark? Could you try something like grounding a bare-ended wire under an engine bolt, then securely attaching the other bare end to the threads of the plug, and see what you observe then?

>>>One would think that if 3 magnets are installed, they all should have a strong "pull" to them...not just one of the three.

   Not necessairly.  It could be they are different for timing, field shaping or varying strength.  One could be a weaker (cheaper) magnet for a tickler field to trigger the transistor.  Could be anything or exactly as you think.  Your getting a nice fat spark consistantly is not due to weak magnets.

I have not yet made any substantial progress on this machine.  I did see a flywheel on ebay that I was interested in purchasing.  I asked the seller if all three magnets on the flywheel he was selling for the CCR2000 had basically the same magnetic pull.  He stated that the middle one is the magnet and the outer two are just blanks.  Well there you have it I guess. 

I have 2 of these toro's that have been great. Last week I went to start one (38180)and it just wasn't feeling right. After about 10 aggressive pulls the rope came out...ugggg. Back into the garage I removed the pull cover and fix the cord. A few more pulls and I surrender to the fact that it's not going to start. Long story short..no spark. I checked all as mentioned, kill switch, spark plug, fly wheel gap etc. No luck with an unknown ign module I had in a draw and the other unit (38185) doesnt have a module I can borrow. My readings from the coil assembly are 1.1ohms and 11.4k ohms. In earlier post i read a max of just under 8k ohms for the primary. Is 11.4k out of range? I want to be sure before I purchase any parts. Thanks. Note: This flywheel has a single magnet and is very strong.

   The low reading is on the primary.  The high on the secondary.  Over 8 is high.  You mentioned going over everything so just a reminder that many people replace coils for problems in the sparkplug wire and boot.  You've probably already tried connecting one lead to the ground lead and worked the other inside the plug boot while twisting the boot/wire connection to check for a resistance change.  Before tossing it you might do what's the other poster tried as a last resort of pulling the plug wire from the body & etc....

i guess at this point it cant hurt to do a little dissecting on the spark plug wire now. will post findings.

I was wondering why the service manual list the same engine, 47P, for both my ccr2000's but yet they are different.

Well, its finally over guys!!  I waited and waited and found a coil and module used on ebay for a real good price ($30).  I removed the second coil upon which I had attached the new spark plug wire.  In its place, I installed the new ebay coil and gapped 'er to .011.  I attached the module to the rewind starter cowling.  Now this module is one of the original gold colored modules.  I gapped the plug to .030.  I did not even check for spark at this point.  I figured it sparks, great.  If not, the machine is going next to the garbage can for the local scrappers to pick up.  I then put everything else back together and hauled it upstairs from the basement to the garage.

In the garage, I plugged in the electric starter...here goes nothing.  She fired up!!!  and stayed fired up!!!   It was however surging rather badly but at least it was running. Not enough fuel I thought.   I went back to the computer and searched for surging CCR 2000's.  Some said to rebuild the carb (which I had done already).  Others mentioned that there is one adjusting screw on the carb.  I took a look at that on the CCR 2000 carb.  Normally I (as a rule) set low and high idle screws 1 to 1 1/2 turn out.  This adjusting screw I had originally set 1 and 1/2 turns out.  I turned the screw a little further out so that it was about 2 or 2 and 1/2 turns out from a seated position.  No surging at all.  Runs like a dream...hums like a bee! 

Thank you guys for all you help, suggestions, and input.  I appreciate it very much.

   You cured it, nice going. 

   If I read the post right the problem could have been the coil or module as both were replaced.    If the coil then that meant the original went bad, the replacement went bad and the fixed coil bad, all in the same way.  The same for the module.  The first was defective and the replacement defective both in the same way.  Given the way things happened it almost seems the first replacement module was defective in the same way as the original.   Overall a nasty problem with some bad Karma mixed in.