O/T lawn tractor electricial problem

my 84 yr old daddy gave me his AMF 10 hp Tecumseh lawn tractor that's over 30 yrs old. i can't get any spark and i think it's the solid state ignition rect. reg. but parts are not available. anybody got a wiring schematic to rewire using a different setup or a lawn tracor web site? thanks

 

If it is really 30 years old, I don't think it would be solid state. Of all of the the small motors I have messed with, only the ones made in the 80s have had electronic ignition. All of the rest were points. Take off the flywheel and see what is going on down there. Probably an easy fix. Have you checked to make sure the kill switch isn't grounding out?

 

If solid state, kill switch is your prime suspect--see if you can unplug the wire at the ignition to diagnose. If points, kill switch too, and point surfaces can corrode/springs rust and break during downtime.

 

old man kept the owner's manual. it says solid state ignition. by kill switch do you mean the ignition switch?

 

If you have a decent small engine repair place in your town there are usually aftermarket breakerless ignition systems for them available. I got one for a Briggs & Stratton 5.0 a few years ago.

 

ok, thanks, anybody got a schematic to rewire?

 

http://www.ytmag.com/gardent/wwwboard1.html here is a garden tractor forum.

Make sure the kill switch wire is not grounding out.

You need to take off the flywheel. If you have never done that before, it is not hard. First, take off all of the tin, you need to get the nut off holding on the flywheel. if it is a rope pull, the starter clutch is what holds it on. Might need a special tool to get it off. If it is electric start, it should have a nut. To loosen it, you need to hold the crank in place so it cant turn. You might be able to jam something on the underside so it wont turn. If that wont work, you can use the rope trick (it is what I do).

Pull out the spark plug. Turn the motor over so it is on the down stroke after the compression stroke (piston moving away from the head. Feed in a few feet of small rope, or close line, into the spark plug hole. This will compress between the piston and head, and stop the piston from moving, and allow you to loosen the nut. Once that is off, you can take the flywheel off. It will be stuck to the taper on the crank. I take a large hammer, and smack the sides of the flywheel in different places, until it becomes loose (you'll know when it does). DON'T hit the magnet in the flywheel, if there is one.

All of the ignition goodies should be under there. Now you can trace the problem easier.

 

it should have a magneto on it????? magnets that pass each other and a coil conected to one magnet..... magnet on the fan/ stator(i forget the names) magnet goes past the other and BAM spark... maynbe it got moved and it to far away....