# HONDA GCV160 No Spark, Coil.



## SU27Flanker

Hello there all. Got a mower in the shop for repair. Had a bent crank and the owners are thick, so it was brought to me when it "wouldn't start" As a result there is some vibration damage that I have repaired. Now it ran when I first checked it over (that's how I found the crank was bent, wow did I turn it off quick!), but now no. As far as I can tell there is no spark. What I need to know is; with this ignition system does the fly wheel need to be rotating fast to spark, or will a fast turn by hand (of the fly wheel )generate anything? I note that the machine has a switch that grounds the coil unless closed. This switch works. Is the gap between the flywheel and the coil super critical ? I have had the fly wheel off, but not the coil. Should I re gap the coil ? with a business card ? Essentialy I need to find a way to prove the coil dead before I order a new one. There was not a peep from the motor when attempting a start and it quickly flooded. Any advise would be great here. Thanks all, F


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## 30yearTech

You may not be able to spin it fast enough by hand to generate a spark as most solid state systems require a minimum of 600 rpm to generate a spark. The gap is not "super" critical, but if it's way off, it can affect the spark. Test it with the kill switch lead disconnected to eliminate the kill circuit from the equation, set the air gap to around .010" and you should be in the ball park.


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## rotti1968

just a thought is the flywheel key in place?but as 30 year said isolate the coil from the kill circuit and you can rule that out ,flywheel key good,air gap is good still no spark bad coil.


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## macx

Honda GCV 160 on pressure washer. Was running OK. Shut it off to move some items, would not restart.

Traced to no spark. Disconnected kill switch, no spark. Online research said to replace coil. Did, with aftermarket coil. No spark. Replaced with genuine Honda coil. Still no spark.

All 3 coils test acceptable ohms between kill tab and plug wire, 6, 8 & 14 ohms.

Flywheel magnet is not loose, has strong magnetism. Flywheel key is OK.

On all 3, have about 2.5 ohms kill tab to coil frame. Are they shorting out internally? Wouldn't think there should be continuity there. For comparison, checked both coils on twin Briggs engine, they tested at/less than 0.5 ohms between kill tab and coil frame.


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## nbpt100

SU27Flanker said:


> Hello there all. Got a mower in the shop for repair. Had a bent crank and the owners are thick, so it was brought to me when it "wouldn't start" here.


This is a tough one but here are some thoughts.
Did the bent crank damage any of the bearings? Did you check run out on the fly wheel? Did the magnets scrape against the coil? check for magnet damage.

It sure sounds like a bad coil.

Good luck.


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## 30yearTech

Make sure coil is not mounted upside down, most will mount up either way, but will only work one way. Test with kill switch lead disconnected at coil, and spin engine with recoil starter not by hand to test for spark. It would be unusual to have that many bad coils. I rarely find failed coils on Honda engines.


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