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Good morning. I have a Honda GCV 160 self-propelled 21" lawn mower that I purchased 4 years ago. Today while mowing it stopped cold. It did not sputter or run rough before it died. I have used Tru Fuel 4-Cycle fuel since I purchased it and I change the oil and spark plug each year and it has always started with 1-2 pulls. I haven't changed the air filter for a couple of years. I just pull it out to knock the dust off and blow on it. The engine will not start at all when I pull the cord, which pulls normally. It does not even attempt to start. Any thoughts on possible causes? Thanks.

Remove the spark plug and have somebody crank the engine with the plug connected to the wire and the plug grounded to the engine and check for spark. If that checks out reinstall the plug and put some fuel into the carb intake and see if it will start.

Dude, stop buying Tru Fuel and send me the money.

TruFuel has nothing to do with it.

Rivets said:

TruFuel has nothing to do with it.

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I'll accept your money, too.

If it stopped cold without hitting anything, check for spark. You may have a coil fault that presents itself when hot. Throw away that Tru-Fuel.

ILENGINE said:

Remove the spark plug and have somebody crank the engine with the plug connected to the wire and the plug grounded to the engine and check for spark. If that checks out reinstall the plug and put some fuel into the carb intake and see if it will start.

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Howdy. Thanks to all for the suggestions and comments. I removed the spark plug and did not get a spark when I follow your instructions. I found a video that showed what you described to make sure I did it right. I bought a new spark plug and oddly enough it also did not spark when I tested it the same way. I then tested both with my multimeter and they both had a good reading. The old one at 5.68k and the new one at 6.31k. It seems that the old spark plug is still good. What else could prevent a spark if the spark plug is good?

So the next step would be to remove the engine cover/blower housing and unplug the ignition module. Put the cover/starter back on and recheck for spark. If you have spark then need to check the wire and the engine kill switch. If no spark then the module has failed and will need to be replaced.

ILENGINE said:

So the next step would be to remove the engine cover/blower housing and unplug the ignition module. Put the cover/starter back on and recheck for spark. If you have spark then need to check the wire and the engine kill switch. If no spark then the module has failed and will need to be replaced.

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I pulled the kill switch tab off the ignition module terminal and still could not detect a spark. I removed the ignition module and tested it with the multimeter and it had a reading of over 12k which is a good reading, right? Now I am not sure if it is good or bad. I will check for a spark without the kill switch again tomorrow. If the ignition module is indeed good, how do I check the wire and kill switch?

For most applications unplugging the kill wire and then not having spark with a known good plug is a bad ignition module. But for Honda testing you should have 1.0-1.2 ohms on the primary winding and 10-12.8 Kohms on the secondary winding. But I would of disconnected the kill wire tested for spark, NO spark the module would of been removed and hit the nearest trash can. No further testing required.

ILENGINE said:

For most applications unplugging the kill wire and then not having spark with a known good plug is a bad ignition module. But for Honda testing you should have 1.0-1.2 ohms on the primary winding and 10-12.8 Kohms on the secondary winding. But I would of disconnected the kill wire tested for spark, NO spark the module would of been removed and hit the nearest trash can. No further testing required.

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ILENGINE said:

For most applications unplugging the kill wire and then not having spark with a known good plug is a bad ignition module. But for Honda testing you should have 1.0-1.2 ohms on the primary winding and 10-12.8 Kohms on the secondary winding. But I would of disconnected the kill wire tested for spark, NO spark the module would of been removed and hit the nearest trash can. No further testing required.

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Howdy. The new module arrived today. I installed it and the mower started with the first pull. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge! Now I have to mow the *&%$ lawn.