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JD180 Intermittant and weak spark

988 views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  mowergene 
#1 ·
My 180 has had starting problems since I bought it. This afternoon I spray some starter fluid and got it to run for about 3 seconds. After a while, no spark at all and I pulled the gas feed line off the fuel pump and saw that I did, indeed, have fuel. I moved the wires of the coil and those coming from the stator and got some spark again, but it was weak. I'm suspecting the coil....what do you think??
 
#3 ·
Have you checked the air gap adjustment on the coil? Any difference if you disconnect the kill wire from the coil? There really isn't much wiring involved. The flywheel magnet moves past the ignition coil and a high voltage is generated on the spark plug wire.
 
#4 ·
It had run, so the gap must have been good. I removed, cleaned it up and the resistance reading didn't look good. So, I ordered a new one for about $21. If that doesn't fire it up, I'll order the ignitor (One listed for $14). At that price, I was tempted to just go ahead and order it.......but if it's not necessary......no big rush.
 
#5 ·
Igniters are a huge problem on the older Kawi singles . I believe they make a coil that is solid state and eliminates the igniter. There is a tube video on it. I have heard the only thing is for some reason you have to put the coil on upside down from what the instructions say or it won't work.
 
#6 ·
I had an igniter go bad on my LX178. It was one of the multi-lead type. This one is very small with only one lead. The Coil is coming from China. This project may be on hold for a while.:dunno::dunno::dunno:
 
#8 ·
I ordered the Kawasaki coil and boot. WHY DOES THE COIL COME WITHOUT A BOOT?????? I installed the spring onto the coil wire, lubed it up and tried for 1/2 an hour to push it through the rubber boot........NO SUCCESS. I only managed to RIP the rubber!!! What a waste of money. I pulled an old spark plug (automotive) boot off the wire and attached it to the coil wire. No success for spark, so I've now ordered the ignitor. This has been a wait & see project.
 
#10 ·
A youtube video suggested WD40.........I used PB Blaster.
 
#11 ·
The ignitor arrived this morning and I was anxious to install it but my daughter, wife and I spent the day at the hospital with my daughter's DVT. She's been in a lot of pain with both legs swollen almost to the point of breaking open! This all started out with a kidney infection which brought her GFR down to 47. Not a good number for a gal in her mid-thirties. It's after 1 am and we just got home. I'm exhausted and will try my darndest to sleep in late.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I dressed by noon today and it was raining.....we badly need it, so no complaints here. By 3pm, the sky cleared and it was about 70*....perfect! I installed the new ignitor.....no fire. You suppose it helps to plug it in???? Dummy me! Plugged it in, sprayed a little starter fluid in the carb and shazam! Fires right up!! Won't continue to run, though. It needs not only full choke, but my finger over the butterfly's hole. Before I'd lost spark, the carb was operating perfectly. I pulled the carb, cleaned the jets, blew everything out, reinstalled.......same problem. I'm not a carburetor man and I'm highly open to suggestions, guys!
The engine is the Kawasaki 17 HP Fc540V.
 
#13 ·
This afternoon, I RE-cleaned the carburetor to no avail. I got it to continue running without my finger in the butterfly hole, but it still required full choke and it surges some. So, I spent $26.90 on ebay and bought a new one. That better work. I'm not known for my patience with schtuff like this and I detest redoing the redo! Cross some fingers, toes or whatever you cross for luck and say a prayer that I'm nearly out of this dilemma. I know that I've got plenty of headaches ahead with the drive train and the deck (should I decide to fix it).
 
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