K321 will not turn over, no spark

C

CorkBoy

Active Member
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Engine will not turn over, No Spark

Looking for ideas as what the cause might be

Please read information below before responding

Background

1985 214
Kohler K321AQS

New to me 12 years ago, with: new coil and condenser, valve job, new points, and was inside of a building for the 10 years before I bought it. Ran perfectly well for 10 years.

Work performed in last 18 months

  • New coil
  • New condenser
  • New drive belts
  • New points @ 0.020
  • Replaced OEM fuel pump with Briggs Pulse pump
  • Gas tank removed, and cleaned
  • New gas line
  • New in-line gas filter at exit point of fuel tank
  • New fuel line
  • New battery
  • Re-gapped valve to factory suggesting settings
  • De-carboned head
  • New Head gasket
  • New air filter
  • New front wheel bearings (meaningless for this need)
  • Valves lapped and checked for correct functionality
  • Transaxle fluid drained and changed.
  • Cylinder confirmed as not causing any issues nor needing repair
  • Not driven from August 2021 to July 2023

Spent 30 minutes each of two weeks mowing in late July, No issues

Last week, ran at normal speeds in first gear, second notch of Variator, and it ran as though it was new machine while mowing, for 20 minutes. Much more quiet and much less vibration than I had experienced for the past 12 years.

Drove across driveway to mow a small patch of grass and the engine stopped, immediately.

Pushed mower into garage and checked:

Fuel is not an issue
  • Battery is at full power
  • Put spark tester on plug and found no spark at all, until I turned the key off.
  • Replaced plug with new, with the same results.
  • When trying to turn engine over, there is no ignition.
Thinking the 1 year old coil may be trashed, I bought a new one with a condenser from ISaveTractors

Installed new Coil, Condenser, Plug, and plug wire. Same results

I did see a spark at the point where the negative battery cable is grounded, but that was infrequent at best.

This seems to be an electrical issue, and I'm stumped as to what to test.

Ideas appreciated
 
"Drove across driveway to mow a small patch of grass and the engine stopped, immediately."

Do you mean it locked up ?



"Put spark tester on plug and found no spark at all, until I turned the key off"

I'm confused that you're getting spark with the key off ?
 
Ok saying the engine won't turn over must be wrong? As you say its not producing spark, this leads to several causes and the first place I'd look it the ignition switch with that being 2 possibles 1 the switch went bad or 2, the ignition wire from the switch to the coil has a break/bad connection the these out first (FYI ignition coils seldom go bad)
 
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"Turning over" ,'having spark"(or not) and "running"are 3 different things, if the engine moves when you hit the starter that's," turning over" in and of itself often has nothing to do with whether you have spark or whether it takes soff and runs.
And what to check for is different for each of those conditions
 
CorkBoy said:
I did see a spark at the point where the negative battery cable is grounded, but that was infrequent at best.
Click to expand...
I am confused too, but if you see a spark where the negative battery cable is grounded, even infrequent, it sounds like some kind of short or that attachment point and cable needs a good cleaning?

DAC
 
MNGB said:
Ok saying the engine won't turn over must be wrong? As you say its not producing spark, this leads to several causes and the first place I'd look it the ignition switch with that being 2 possibles 1 the switch went bad or 2, the ignition wire from the switch to the coil has a break/bad connection the these out first (FYI ignition coils seldom go bad)
Click to expand...
Some Voltage Numbers. Do they indicate anything?


Battery voltage at battery = 12.5V

Voltage at B terminal on key switch when the key is turned to run = 11.8V

Voltage at + side of ignition coil with key in run position = 11.45V.
.
Battery voltage while cranking the engine = 8.5V – 9.7V (not a consistent reading, as it continually fluctuated.
 
"Battery voltage while cranking the engine = 8.5V – 9.7V (not a consistent reading, as it continually fluctuated"

They are really low numbers while cranking.
Good battery sitting in the tractor would be nice to see 12.5-13v. Cranking it over maybe down to 10.5v - 11.5v. You're down to 8-9v cranking which is really low, almost bad
Have you had your battery load tested ?

There may be more than one thing going on here but think you have to start with one thing at a time.
 
If he has 12.5 sitting still and nothing "on" and 8-9v while cranking that tells me the battery is junk.
The other thing is the spark at the end of the negative cable tells me bad ground/bad connection there. I'd toss another battery in (have another machine that starts and runs that you can borrow a battery from, and stick into this machine for test purposes? He's not gonna get 13.6v from it standing still. 13.6? Probably.
13.6 would be the least id expect with it running and charging system doing it's thing, but that will fluctuate a bit based on state of battery charge, what else is running with the engine (pto clutch, lights etc)
 
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