I have a old tiller with a 4hp kohler I put new points and condenser and a new coil on it. Still no spark.. it has 100lbs of compression. The fly wheel magnets seem to have good straignth to them. The points open and close with the gap set right.. but no spark.. what else is there to check?? Thanks..

what else is there to check???

Sparkplug, cables, any switches(?).

New plug no cables no switches.. points condenser coil it is basic.. that's why I am going nuts.. any thoughts

What did you set your gap at?

Gap on the points is at 20 the stater is under the flywheel so I am asuming it is right there is no adjustment to that?

gap on the points is at 20

Don't know what engine model you have, but that's reasonable place to start. For engine models I'm familiar with, coarse adjustment is setting them to just begin to break at the S, SP, or T mark on the flywheel. Fine adjust then with timing light so mark is centered in sight hole at 1200-1800 RPM.


the stater is under the flywheel so i am asuming it is right there is no adjustment to that??

Do you get any shock holding the plug while turning the engine by hand? Are you actually not getting any spark or is the engine just not running? The plug can be pulled, grounded to the block hole, and then engine cranked by hand to see if there is spark.

For the models I'm familiar with, the Kohler coil kit has a piece of cardboard to be used as a gauge for setting the gap. For testing the magnets, Kohler's Service Manual suggests holding (hanging) a non-magnetized screwdriver an inch away from the flywheel magnet. Magnet should snap the screwdriver in.

I've also run into a couple cases where the flywheel sheared the key, rotated, and got wedged or rusted and then the magnet's passage by the coil was out of sync with everything.