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justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 13
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 64.6.44.2
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 09:15 pm: | 
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ive got a 16hp briggs and one of the spark plug coils keeps going out i bought a new one and it started up and ran for about 3 mins then it went back into the same slow rev up and rough idle when i checked the coil for spark it was out again well i noticed that i forgot to put the L shaped insulater over the tip of the plug and plug wire could that have cause the coil to burn up again maybe by shooting a spark to the motor and grounding it out or something......? thanks -JUSTIN |
Rob Sandera
Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 45
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.134.83
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 04:05 am: |
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The coil on a Briggs should be almost indestructible in 30 years of small engine repair I’ve seen about 2 bad ones and its usually a crack or heat damage. Check your wiring unplug everything form the coil if you have to, also check that it is not water in your gas your experiencing as it acts the same way. Grounding it is how it is shut off so shouldn’t hurt it. I believe the magnetrons still have a lifetime warranty. If this is a Briggs with points a bad condenser will produce a high spark at the points resulting in bad or intermittent spark and no spark once warm. A spark checker can usually pick this up. |
justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 14
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 64.6.44.2
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 10:34 am: |
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see i put a spark checker on it and got nothing sometimes i would get a weak spark (rarely) then i replaced it and when i did the spark was great!! i pluged it back in and it ran good for a short period 3 mins and was back to the same running condition |
Rob Sandera
Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 49
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.133.172
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 05:40 pm: |
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is this a points engine, if not unplug your wiring and try it. What engine is this ??? |
justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 15
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 68.240.2.114
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 11:30 am: |
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its a 1998 briggs and stratton vanguard twin cylender OHV its got two coils one coil is working and for some reason the other isnt the other one will get weak spark sometimes it will run with out all wiring hooked up because about 2 months ago i had it pulled to clean out the inside of the max so i changed the oil while it was out and ran it on a mount. i might add that a month ago or so i sunk the whole thing in water...... i changed ALL the fluids, re greased everything, opened up the carb and cleaned it out drained all the gas, pused all the gas outta the lines, and when i did all that it ran really good i drove it for about 20 mins and then thats when it started acting up |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 51
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.129.149
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 05:48 pm: |
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ok the vangards I havent had to mess with so am unsure of the total ignition set up but try switching your coils around. Being that you dunked it I'm thinking a pickup on the flywheel is bad or your wiring or the ignition switch still has water in etc. You may try starting it and running in the dark see if you see a tiny arc somewhere shorting something a cracked coil will arc out etc |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 52
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.129.149
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 06:15 pm: |
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Heres the fix I did some checken
CHANGE BOTH COILS AND DIODE BETWEEN THEM AND ITS FIXED |
Rogersmith
Advanced Member
Username: Rogersmith
Post Number: 230
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 70.234.102.203
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 - 07:03 pm: |
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Call a dealer about the lifetime warranty on the magnetron ignition |
justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 16
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 64.6.44.2
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 05:40 pm: |
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see the ignition did stop working on it and i have followed the wires and cant see where the short would be? |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 53
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.129.175
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 08:02 pm: |
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The ignition switch may have went bad I’ve had allot go bad in rain on mowers you can shoot wd –40 in it and blow it out with a air gun and try it. The problem you probably have is Briggs uses a diode to keep power from bleeding back etc it allows it to flow one way not the other.
Now I’m unfamiliar with the diode setup on vanguard but my brother works on them all the time and said just replace it all. The diodes used on the old apposed engines were a wire with usually a little purple shrink rapped looking thing that plugged in. That is more then likely your problem if the diode is shrink rapped in water etc or went bad you may be putting battery power to a coil and blowing it.
The ignition though I’ve sat there testing with voltmeters and messing around everything seeming ok but the solenoid etc wouldn’t work then put on a new switch and all of a sudden everything’s cured. Its seems to be a resistance problem of a weak connection or water in the switch etc.. I had a lawn service and all I know is I try to keep all the ignitions covered up now. Rain screws them up real easy. If your not shutting off its because is not grounding good. Trace the black wire on the switch or where it attaches to the ignition jump a wire to the side of the engine and see if it shuts off. If so the switch went and has too much resistance to ground good. I have had some where they seem to shut off one cylinder..
There was a lifetime warranty on Magnatron Ignitions so you can call a Briggs dealer and ask them about what you have there. If you have to mess around trying to dry stuff out still the best thing I ever found is set stuff by a no humidity environment like pull the wiring harness, ignition switch, coils, diodes etc and set everything in front of a force air heater duct, the warm air usually doesn’t hurt anything but will evaporate any moisture left in anything if you leave it over night. Had some people wash their cell phone and dissemble and dry like this and it worked fine again. |
philip w.cox
Advanced Member
Username: Philipatmaxfour
Post Number: 279
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 199.246.2.9
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 08:21 pm: |
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Hey Rob, Can you tell us why so many of your posts have an unrecognizable set of letters where I think you typed an apostrophe? in your above post there are six of them. W.Philip Cox |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 54
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.131.103
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 23, 2007 - 09:35 pm: |
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Sorry about that it seems to be a problem with Microsoft word 2000 and I use it to spell check etc and paste a post. Anywhere it puts an apostrophe I seem to get a trademark symbol. I thought it was just my browser as I run a older version of firefox on this computer. I have found if I paste first in notepad and then copy it fixes it I just keep forgetting to do that. The bbs program may be able to correct that too. Word seems to put like a space with a angled apostrophy. Maybe I'll just type in my html program as it doesn't do it I just found word spellchecker to be the fastest and I mess up typing all day LOL!
Its not showing it to me in the post above right now but I think when I re-log in the next time it does. |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 58
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.129.189
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 01:29 pm: |
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The wire between the two coils is the diode so theirs your culprit probably took out the ignition and is letting one coil blow. Don’t know what a vanguard diode cost but normally I think they were about 15 bucks. |
justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 17
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 70.2.60.6
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 05:55 pm: |
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so the wire is the diode?? |
Rob Sandera
Intermediate Member
Username: Rob_sandera
Post Number: 61
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 4.91.128.114
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 24, 2007 - 06:25 pm: |
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Well thats what my brother told me. When a diode works properly you should be able to hook to a test light with a small battery then turn the diode wire around and it shouldn't work. They are designed to flow power in one direction and not bleed back the other. |
justin cogdill
Junior Member
Username: Max2muddin
Post Number: 18
Registered: 01-2007
Posted From: 64.6.44.2
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - 07:52 pm: |
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oooohhhhhh ok i get it that does make alot of sence im gonna check that out!!! thanks |
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