Ignition failure.

[SJones]

I have a 126 from 1971. I am not getting a spark in the plug. I changed the plug to be sure. The last run was fine with no problems or indications of problems. Shut down fine. Now it does not start after a week of sitting. Battery is fine with a strong charge. lights and motor generator are fine. I am thinking the coil went. Any suggestions on what to look for if it isnt the coil?

[R Bedell]

Run a direct wire from the positive (+) Battery Terminal to the Coil (+) terminal and see if it starts up. Let us know.

[olds45512]

X2 on what Roland said. I highly doubt its the coil as they don't generally go bad just from sitting, I would bet its either wiring or the points/condenser.

[jkier]

Same thing just happened to me on a 129.

Ended up being the spark plug wire. Of course its the last thing I replaced..

[SJones]

Checked the points. Cleaned too. Does not appear to be anything wrong there.

[Mike McKown]

Quick check on your ignition.

Put a 12 volt test light on the + side of your coil with the key on. The light should be bright and steady. If not, no power to the coil.

Move the test light to the minus side of the coil and crank the engine. The light should flash brightly off/on, off/on, off/on. If it doesn't flash your points are dirty, not gapped, the wire is broken from the coil/points, or some other problem related to not breaking the coil circuit.

[SJones]

Found it. It is one of those kiss ones. I was thinking broken plug wire. So naturally as I was cranking the engine I was wiggling the plug wire. After about 5 seconds it fired up. The thinking is that I made the broken wire contact, so a quick shift should break the contact and shut down the engine. Surprisingly , it didn't. So why didn't it. In the process of inspecting the plug wire under good light, I noticed the socket for the plug look like it had a corrosive layer as I could see fresh bare metal from wiggling it on the plug. Sanding the inside of the socket and plug top to clean them revealed that must have been it. It fires up every time now. Simply needed cleaning. KISS

[bocephus1991]

Glade you got it running! Most times it is something simple, especially if it ran fine one day then wouldn't start the next. Good idea to always use the kiss method!

[Roy Najecki]

I'm glad to have found this thread as I was just about to start a new one. My friend bought a 682 with a KT17 that hasn't run in five years. The previous owner thought the carb just got clogged with old gas as it ran when he put in the garage years ago. So we get the 682 and I tried to start it and the engine turns over but doesn't start, even when I put some gas in the carb and cylinders.

So I connect an in-line spark plug tester. No light. I opened the points cover and cleaned the points. Still doesn't start, and the point do open and close, but no arcing. I then did the ignition coil resistance test procedure and the primary and secondary resistance in right on spec.

That's when I found this thread and followed Mike's suggestion. I've got steady 12V to positive side of the coil. On the negative side when I crank the engine I also get a steady light, no off/on/off/on...

Sound like I have a bad condenser? The OEM KT17 condenser $26 price seems outrageous so do you see any problem if I use the K Series condenser?

[Yosemite Sam]

If you have a steady 12v at the negative side of the coil when cranking the engine over then the points are not grounding. Bad wire from coil neg to points, points not making contact or point set not grounded.