No spark on a Craftsman/Tecumseh 6.5 hp mower

[wkilleffer]

Hey everyone,

Whenever I'm out somewhere and see a lawnmower at the curb in someone's trash pile, I stop and grab it. Sometimes it's worthwhile, and others end up in my own trash pile and passed on.

The other day, I grabbed what looked like a nice Craftsman mower. It has a 6.5 hp tecumseh engine, self-propulsion and key start. The key start battery is drained and I don't have a charger. Battery and charger are kinda pricey, and the recoil starter is functional. The Sears model # is 917.377574 if that makes a difference.

I took the carb apart, gave it a good cleaning and replaced the split primer bulb. Then, I put fresh oil in. When I tried to start it, I figured out that it wasn't getting any spark, and the plug was clean.

After removing the flywheel, I'm beginning to think that this mower doesn't have points the way other mowers I've worked on have. They're usually in a structure under the flywheel, but there's nothing there.

Does this mower have some kind of electronic ignition module? If so, is it worth tracking down and replacing?

Also, either the flywheel key was already sheared, or my removal sheared it. Either way, I can't get the piece of it out of the groove on the shaft. Any ideas on how to do that?

Advice and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill

[HayZee518]

the engine fores off the rotation of the flywheel magnet. distance from the coil and flywheel is about a thickness of a piece of thin cardboard or a credit card. the key is a woodruffkey - use a small chisel and lots of penetratiing oil and it should come out

[wkilleffer]

Originally Posted by HayZee518

the engine fores off the rotation of the flywheel magnet. distance from the coil and flywheel is about a thickness of a piece of thin cardboard or a credit card. the key is a woodruffkey - use a small chisel and lots of penetratiing oil and it should come out

Ok, so since I'm not getting any fire and there are no points, this means that there's probably a problem with the magneto?

Thank you,
-Bill

[HayZee518]

more than likely a bad coil. the magnet in the flywheel rarely loses its magnetism. I do repairs on small engines like weed eaters and I got three machines with bad coils. they cost from about 30 bucks up!