Bendix Mag lost spark.

Gravely Model L Guy said:

I just bought a 1953 Gravely model L. I brought it home and it took all of 15 minutes to get it running. I did take a lot of pulling though. Today when I tried to start it it wouldnt start. So I took out the plug and put it on the head and pulled it over. I noticed it had good spark when the impulse was engaging but when I pulled it over fast the spark would not be enough to light the gas. So I took of the mag to clean the points and put it back on and It had lost all spark. I thought it might be a bad ground between the tractor and mag but I cleaned that up and still nothing. Any ideas?

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Fla Don said:

Check the kill wire and screw thru the side of the mag for a ground. The condensor may also have gone bad. Otherwise, you may have a coil that has bad epoxy and has cracked causing shorts. Bendix mags are known for the coils dieing. They can be rewound.

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Richard-tx said:

DO the easy and cheap stuff first. Take the points off and make sure they look like a shiny new dime. If they are good replace the condenser. 9 times out of 9 the condenser is bad. The 10th time? No telling.

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Gravely Model L Guy said:

The points look great to me. Are the coil generic?

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jrd said:

No, the coils are specific to the kind of mag.

See www.magnetoparts.com. He says he has coils, and can rewind existing ones.

But check the condensor first. I used a generic one from a NAPA on the last bendix I did, and it works great.

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