Cub 122
 

Hi, I have a 122 that I use to plow snow. Yesterday I was warming it up and it had run for about 5 minutes and I heard a pop sound and it quit running. It would not restart. It is currently 3 degrees windchill and I would like to start the repair from an educated guess. Any ideas where I should begin looking?

I realize this is little to go on, but it is 3 degrees (and no inside warm repair location). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Jack

Pull the Spark Plug and see if the piston goes up & down..!!

:ThumbsUp:

Some questions to help provide some data to everyone:

* What Roland said :-)

* Does "wont start" = turns over but the engine wont fire?

* This "pop"....was it like a backfire or was it an electrical sounding pop?

* If it's cranking, are there any strange noises it makes while cranking?

* You checked for gas, right, gas petcock opened up too?

Sorry about the three degrees!

Sudden engine stopping like that is generally either major mechanical or electrical.

Did you check the oil level? When was it last changed? What weight are you using?

Pop
 

It wasn't a major mechanical "pop". It still turns over fine (without any weird noise). It seems to be getting fuel (at least by the smell). It would say by the volume and sound it was probably electrical (but I don't see anything arcing). I haven't checked the spark as the tractor is outside and the spark is difficult to see in daylight. I was hoping perhaps there is a typical failure (voltage regulator, etc.) that would make this particular sound that someone has experienced to lead me (the blind) at least in a direction toward a solution.

Thanks again for the help!

Voltage regulators do fail pretty often in these, but when they do the typical failure is that the tractor just won’t charge the battery. It should still run as long as the battery is good and providing a charge. If the piston is moving still and you think it has gas, spark would be the next thing to check.

At this point, because I may need it to plow snow in the near future, I think I will replace the entire ignition system (regulator, coil, condenser, points, plug) and see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks for the help.

Jack

well thats one way to do it. might not need all that if you spend a second to check it. I would at least check if you have spark first, and check compression before doing all that.

Agreed with this. If it’s electrical, what you’re replacing will PROBABLY fix it, but it’s also just as likely to be a wire or connector somewhere. If it hasn’t been replaced, you’ve got 50 year old wires that are probably corroded holding that thing together.

If it’s a bigger mechanical issue, I guess it’s stuff you might want to consider replacing for a good rebuild as well, but you won’t have a running tractor in the meantime, and you’ll have $100+ in shiny new parts not helping you move snow.

Sounds like a coil to me, is the bottom of it bulging?