Thanks for joining to help me! This is really bumming out my 9 year old son (it's his mower), and me b/c we're still not able to get it running.. We just installed a brand new coil (magneto?) and the spark is bright blue now and not intermittent.. from what I can tell.. but I'll put in the correct plug next time I try. The plug that's in there is one of those EZ Start ones.. has a forked piece over the gap instead of just a single metal piece.. if that makes any sense (don't know the terminology).. as you can probably tell, I'm trying everything with this mower.
I believe I re-gapped the points correctly, I think I've done it twice now.. but maybe both times I did it wrong.. I used the 1958(?) - 19?? lawn boy repair guide I found online as my guide, a feeler gauge, etc.... but the fact that you're saying I'm supposed to set a gap when they are closed is confusing me a bit.. shouldn't they be closed when they're closed? They do definitely open and close as I turn the wheel..
So is it true that if I have spark, it
doesn't necessarily mean my electrical is good b/c it could be sparking at the wrong time? I thought if the elec was bad, I'd just know because I'd see no spark. However if just seeing spark isn't enough, perhaps this is my problem! I've re assembled it so many times, again by the pictures in the lawn boy service manual, I don't
think I did something wrong, but you know how it is when you've done something over and over.. easy to miss something, or continually do it wrong!
Someone mentioned the PTO/Capstan gasket.. which one is that? Is it the one I pictured above that's near the crank seal that's worn to pieces? If so, interestingly enough I cannot find that part (gasket or the metal part) on a parts list.. is there any type of gasket maker gel or otherwise that I can use instead? Or does someone have the part number?
I'll definitely clean it up for sure, but if you or someone could let me know about the PTO/Capstan gasket (what it is, and if it's the one that's clearly broken apart, can I use something in place of the actual gasket)... and let me know about the spark question above, as well as the gap question, I'll have more to try.. thank you so much again!
Oh and one more thing! We actually cut the cable that prevents the mower from starting when the self propel is engaged, it was causing a lot of problems with the pull starter. I don't see any kill wires at all through there, and there's spark so I guess it's not a kill, but just thought I'd mention that too b/c that's something we did right around when this mower went down.
Pete
I have come across this thread twice now in google searches and while I usually don't join forums for various reasons I felt bad that you have not been able to solve this yet. Unless I missed something while reading through the posts this is where I would personally start and there are a few simple things that caught my eye.
1) What kind of plug is that anyway? It doesn't look like a CJ-14 of any form nor any equal to that I have ever seen. These won't run right nor will they even start on certain wrong plugs. And is it gapped correctly?
2) You said that you cleaned the points. Did you re-gap them properly after putting all of this back together? If so did you make sure that your keyway was pointing towards the carbureator and set the gap at the point where you see them open and close? When you turn your crank you should see your points opening and closing. Use a gauge when they are at their closed point and set them properly.
3) People always seem to go to the reed plates right away without making sure the governor is properly adjusted. It sounds like you may have something sticking. That assembly is filthy. It needs to be taken apart and cleaned even the weights and the whole nine. Make sure that your nylon collar is not burned up and sticking. These wear out. Before you tear it down though look at your governor rod in the non running position it should be sitting at 11 o clock position. Look in your carburetor and make sure your choke is open (brass butterfly). Really the whole assembly all the way around is dirtry. Your coil has rust on it and also by cleaning this off and the magnets on your flywheel I with the combination of correct point, coil, gap I think you will see a vast improvment. Clean the entire metal areas on the coil too not just the ends. You have grounds to think about not just where it runs along the flywheel. Back to the governor one thing I forgot to mention. If the governor rod is not in that position when looking at the throttle shaft on the carb then you can adjust this by bending gently up or down on the end of the arm on the governor. (where the rod hits the bottom of the arm).
Quite honestly this mower is really dirty. It needs to be really taken apart especially under the whole flywheel area and properly cleaned up. You will be amazed at what that can do. These things are filthy and it can be expected that after 40 plus years things are going to start to stick. If you start with a clean mower then that eliminates anything being dirty. I would pull that flywheel off and take everything apart underneath. Governor, you name it. I assume you put the carburetor together right after cleaning but we all make mistakes so double check you didn't upside down the float. I have been working on these things for years and I still make boner moves from time to time. This mower will run again. Good luck
Upon looking at your pictures I would guess those to be the original points and if not real close to it. They have not made the ones with the maroon centers in years. Unless they were lying about new for years somewhere. Either way they are wore right down. I also from looking at that picture see not even the smallest gap in those points and there should at least be something judging the position of the crank. Surprised you are getting any spark at all. I am starting to lean towards this being your problem. Get yourself a set of points and set the gaps properly. Make sure when you put your governor colllar/weights back on you line it properly with your flywheel key (which by the way is fine) as this marks the proper place for the right weight disribuition for the governor. By the way I am not knocking your mower for being dirty. I have just seen how much this can affect these things over the years.
