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Long story on this one. Mower was running fine, and broke a deck belt for the blades. I knew already that PTO was going bad but just never got around to replacing it. Got a new belt and replaced, and noticed the drive belt was off the pulley and in between the pulley and PTO. Mower still moved but was sluggish and that I figured would explain that. put it all back together and was testing the mower out and it started to make a squealing sound down near the PTO. made 2-3 passes with the mower and it quit running. took the deck out and did some testing on the PTO. confirmed it was bad. Replaced the PTO put it all back together, and it still won't start. No spark to the plugs. Tested all of the switches, park brake, seat switch, PTO switch, all test ok. I couldn't hear the fuel solenoid click and at this point I was sure it was the interlock mod.Bought a new interlock module as it was looking like this was the issue from all of the things I've read. before I replaced the interlock I disconnected the kill wire to the mags, still no spark. Broke down and replaced the interlock since you can't take it back after the bag is open and still nothing. So its not the Interlock mod. What else am I looking for possibly that would cause no spark condition. Battery is brand new and it turns over just fine just will not start. Any help or ideas would be appreciated , Thanks

Post engine numbers when you can. What engine is this?

Normally on a Briggs for example, if you remove the kill wire on a good coil, should have spark all day long.

slomo said:

~ Normally on a Briggs for example, if you remove the kill wire on a good coil, should have spark all day long.

Click to expand...

OP — Hope you don't mind me interjecting a pretty dumb question. [insert inexplicably missing *embarrassed* emoticon]

Dear slomo — While it's embarrassing to show my ignorance, I must admit that everytime I read forum posts mentioning 'coil's on lawn & garden tractor forum threads... I usually stare out the window and think, huh? With the older auto/truck engines w/distributors, we had the distributor; the typically separate and nearby coil; the starter down below with its adjacent starter solenoid.
But when you refer to a 'coil' on a lawn/garden mower/tractor, are you referring to what's also oft referred to as the 'ignition module'?

I had several old pickups back in the my younger days that we were always working on, (e.g. 1947 Ford 1/2 ton; a 48' F1 and a 51' F-2 & 52' F-2), plus lots of cars w/the old style distributors & coils &c, so I hope I'm not losing my mind !;-) But for example, our JD GT225, w/the Kohler 15hp OHV engine, has an 'ignition module' bolted to the crankcase, under the blower housing/engine shroud (thanks for the advice re cleaning btw ;-), adjacent to the spinning flywheel magneto. Is our 'ignition module' also called a 'coil'? Or is a coil different than an 'ignition module'? Thx for any & all educations !;-)

winmod21 said:

OP — Hope you don't mind me interjecting a pretty dumb question. [insert inexplicably missing *embarrassed* emoticon]

Dear slomo — While it's embarrassing to show my ignorance, I must admit that everytime I read forum posts mentioning 'coil's on lawn & garden tractor forum threads... I usually stare out the window and think, huh? With the older auto/truck engines w/distributors, we had the distributor; the typically separate and nearby coil; the starter down below with its adjacent starter solenoid.
But when you refer to a 'coil' on a lawn/garden mower/tractor, are you referring to what's also oft referred to as the 'ignition module'?

I had several old pickups back in the my younger days that we were always working on, (e.g. 1947 Ford 1/2 ton; a 48' F1 and a 51' F-2 & 52' F-2), plus lots of cars w/the old style distributors & coils &c, so I hope I'm not losing my mind !;-) But for example, our JD GT225, w/the Kohler 15hp OHV engine, has an 'ignition module' bolted to the crankcase, under the blower housing/engine shroud (thanks for the advice re cleaning btw ;-), adjacent to the spinning flywheel magneto. Is our 'ignition module' also called a 'coil'? Or is a coil different than an 'ignition module'? Thx for any & all educations !;-)

Click to expand...

Think the most accurate term say for a Briggs engine is magneto.

I think ignition modules normally have 12 volts applied to run the module. Let the experts chime in on this.

On a Briggs, it's the device that creates the spark.

Thanks slomo !;-) That's what our ignition module looks like. And I was wondering if that's what's often also referred to as coils - on mowers/tractors ? Semantics?

Well it goes like this nearly all mowers & small engines had magneto ignitions because that means you don't need a battery and untill the 70's most mower engines were Side Vale engine that are low compression ≈ 6.5 :1 up to 7.5:1 as such were easy to manually start .
These all used points to open & close the coil circuits to generate the spark at the right time.
In 1962 Atom Industries started to market a Hall Effect timing chip which replaced the points & condenser thus eliminating the constant maintenance needed to keep the sparks coming.
No US engine maker adopted this except OMG ( or who ever they were at that time ) because they would not pay the 5¢ royalties + 12¢ cost per unit despite the chip being 1/10 the price of a points & condenser .
Once patient had expired all the USA engine makers went to Hall effect triggering.
Originally these were stand alone modules connected to the coil with a wire.
Then some smart clot worked out they could mount the chip inside the coil case so suddenly the coil & module became an "Armature" or "ignition module" or "Igniter" etc etc etc.
SO now coils could not be interchanged and the previously $ 5 coil & $ 1 chip became a $ 20 assembly .

Now because it is all in the one assembly so all you see is a coil and because "coil" is a short word we are all familiar with, most humans ( as distinct from marketing morons ) call them coils