I was given a John Deere walk behind edger, the engine code on the flathead 2hp Briggs dates it to 1975. The engine is a 60102-0334-01 model horizontal shaft. I did a complete breakdown on the engine. The piston, cylinder and rings looked great. Completely cleaned the carb and tank. The tank was in teriffic shape inside. I pulled the valves and cleaned them and I had to grind the intake a little to set the proper gap. I cleaned the flywheel and magneto and put in a new key. I took the cover off to check the points and condensor, a little grime inside I lightly cleaned that out and left it alone. New gaskets in the carb, crankcase and head.
Can't get it to start. I pulled the plug and could smell gas so it appeared it was getting fuel just fine. The spark was very weak. I had replaced teh CJ8 plug wtih an E3 and it was gapped to .030. I checked the points and condenser again and thought I might have pinched off the grounding wire, fixed that up and checked it again. I saw a spark on the first couple of pulls then nothing. So I checked the point gap and set it to 0.20. Again, a spark the first time then nothing. I pulled the condensor and checked it on a voltmeter. The condenser was holding a charge. I lightly sanded the points, cleaned it all out, set the gap again and tried it, no spark at all. Disconnecting the ground wire does nothing.
Is there a way to check the magneto? That's the only other thing I haven't checked. Any ideas?
Can't get it to start. I pulled the plug and could smell gas so it appeared it was getting fuel just fine. The spark was very weak. I had replaced teh CJ8 plug wtih an E3 and it was gapped to .030. I checked the points and condenser again and thought I might have pinched off the grounding wire, fixed that up and checked it again. I saw a spark on the first couple of pulls then nothing. So I checked the point gap and set it to 0.20. Again, a spark the first time then nothing. I pulled the condensor and checked it on a voltmeter. The condenser was holding a charge. I lightly sanded the points, cleaned it all out, set the gap again and tried it, no spark at all. Disconnecting the ground wire does nothing.
Is there a way to check the magneto? That's the only other thing I haven't checked. Any ideas?