i just bought a self powered bush hog. its got an 11 hp honda motor on it. it has good compression and looks like good gas, but isnt getting any spark.

It had a kill switch like what a boat or jet ski had, so you can kill it from the 4 wheeler or whatever. because its not getting any spark, i thought it might be the kill switch. i disconnected the kill switch, but the wire thats coming out from under the flywheel (that comes out to the kill switch) still shows continuity to ground. im pretty sure that the kill switch works by grounding out that wire, killing the spark. the problem is, i disconnected everything on the wire but it still shows continuity to ground. i cant get to the end of it without pulling the flywheel. does anyone know if A. im on the right track, B. what could be grounding that wire out under the flywheel, or C. the easiest way to fix it?


its a bush hog gt42 with a honda motor
see crude drawing for more detail. TIA

 

is the kill switch normally open or normally closed?

 

You will need to measure the resistance to ground- there should be 20-100 ohms. What you see is the coil that is connected to the ground on the one side and the wire to the breaker on the other side. Take a DMM and measure if there is a voltage (AC) on the wire when you pull the string.

HTH

AlpineRAM

 

normally closed

upon further inspection, the breaker might be a kill switch. its a button thats normally open, but closed when you push the button. so, when you push the button, it takes the wire coming from the coil to ground.

i cant remember the impedance....i want to say it was like 101, but i might be completely off. when i spun it over, the impedence increased dramatically, but as soon as it stopped turning, it went back down. i will check it tonight and let you know what it says.

thanks for the help y'all.

 

fwiw, i dug into it and the points were barely opening at all (.005). i opened them up to 19, trimmed back the spark plug boot so i could get a better connection at the plug and im in business.