# Craftsman Blower



## 4muddbugs (May 29, 2008)

My daughter brought me her Craftsman lawn blower this weekend. It stopped running and will not start again. I checked all the normal things and the spark seems to be weak / non existing. I can pull the cord while holding the plug and barely feel the spark. I have taken the motor down to the coil and found the contacts on the magneto a little rusty so I cleaned them. I put the blower back together and have the same issue. Is the coil bad? Where would I buy a replacement?
358.797130

Thanks


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## pyro_maniac69 (Aug 12, 2007)

give me a minute and I can give you a part number and about how much


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## pyro_maniac69 (Aug 12, 2007)

coil part #530035505- around $26

one thing you can check on, I know its a pain but take it all back apart, and the metal posts that the coil bolts up to, take some sand paper and sand them down so than you know it has a good ground, also, are you sure its gapped properly? I can never remember the correct number, but I do believe that its .010"

also this will make it double the work also but, remember the little wire that connected to the coil? unhook it and leave it unhooked when you put it back together and than check for spark, its possible that wire is grounding out somewhere even though there isn't a shut-off switch


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

In the vast majority of cases those coils are either good or bad. Very very seldom do they have weak spark. In fixing 1000s or them I can never remember one having weak spark (though I normally don't go around testing them by grabbing a hold of one  ). Use a "gap" type spark tester to see if the coil is good or not.


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## 4muddbugs (May 29, 2008)

When I removed the coil I "lightly" sanded the contacts on the magneto - there was a fair amount of rust on it but very little on the coil contacts. There was no wire hooked up to the ground contact. In fact, there is no ground wire to connect. Maybe this is why I have weak spark? I'll double check the gap and hook up a spark tester.
In case I need it, where do I purchase the coil?


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## pyro_maniac69 (Aug 12, 2007)

anywhere that sells craftsman parts, and there shouldn't be a shut-off wire because your style is set up to to choke itself out when you want to turn it off, there is no shut off switch, so no wire. I just wasn't sure if maybe when they built it there was one in there and they didn't hook it up to anything and then heres the problem


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

You should also be able to purchase parts from any Poulan / Weedeater dealer.


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## dawgpile (Apr 28, 2008)

As Hankster said, I'd hesitate spending the money on a coil before checking the output with a gap type tester. You can pick up one of these type testers pretty cheap at most auto parts stores.

I echo his sentiment regarding a coil being either good or bad without an 'in between'. I've never seen a weak one. I'm sure it can probably happen but by far not a 'typical' failure mode.

My experience with the Craftsman/Poulan/Weedeatere stuff is that the common failure mode is fuel related as opposed to ignition related. When you indicated you checked the 'normal' things, I'm not sure what all that includes. I usually end up replacing the fuel line, fuel filter(sometimes), and the diaphragm/gaskets in the carb (along with a good carb cleaning). Throw in a new plug for good measure. The fuel lines on these are notorious for drying out and cracking, breaking off where it goes through the tank, fuel filter breaks off the end etc.

FWIW... let us know how you make out!


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## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

Aren't these also very prone to having the cylinder bolts come loose and create a leak. Have a good one. Geo


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## pyro_maniac69 (Aug 12, 2007)

yes they are geo


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