old briggs and straton, poor spark

[hondahaulic]

hey, i'm workin on an old briggs and straton engine and i can only get a spark maybe 1 out of 20 revolutions, but when i do it appears to be nice and blue. i lightly sanded the rust off of the flywheel magnet and armature, and the same results. I also made sure the plug wire had good connection to the plug and that the plug was grounded well. does my armature need replaced? howbout the condensor? It really stumps me that it puts off a nice blue spark every once and a while.

[jclark23]

I know on a 5hp motor the magneito(sp) or what ever it is called that works with the flywheel can be adjusted. I believe it has 2 bolts that holds it down. stick a playing card in between the flywheel and that and loosen the bolts and the playing card should be the right gap between the 2. Tighten the bolts down and you are good to go. It should increase the firing or I may be just full of s**t!!:wondering

later Jason

[sblt500r]

if it has points, change them out. points and condesor. what size is it?

[hondahaulic]

problem solved! i stole the armature and coil (the thing above the flywheel) from a smaller engine and i got a nice hot blue spark and got it running like a top. thanks alot for the help guys!

im still trying to figure out the hp. of it because the sticker is worn off, but its definately larger than an 11hp b/s when i put them beside each other. its old too, not sure how old but it doesnt have a recoil, you have to wrap a rope around a metal wheel thats attached to the flywheel in order to start it. should be plenty of power for the go-cart plans in my head :naughty: :naughty: :naughty:

[RedRider_AK]

Just be sure that your clutches can hold up to that much horsepower. My old Manco go-kart had Comet 30 series clutches that were rated up to 6 horses, I believe. I had a 5 horse Tecumseh Enduro OHV engine I used in that thing, and the secondary clutch blew up (literally, the face shattered and the spring shot out) after a weekend of use.

[hondahaulic]

yea not too long ago i put a 6 horse ohv tecumseh with a comet clutch setup in one of those real old non-suspended mini-bike frames. its a little scarry but it gets me (175 lbs) goin well over 40! it will seriously flip me over backwards if im sitting too far back on the seat when i take off too. just goes to show what bypassing the govenour will do lol.

but as for the gocart with the big briggs and stratton, i've got some special plans for the clutch setup lol. its ghetto as hell, but it should work awesome and be reliable. i'll wait and fill ya in on it once i get some more progress.

[hondahaulic]

oh, and does anybody know how to figure out the rated hp of this engine?

[RedRider_AK]

I would check the Northern Power tool website for a briggs that looks like yours LOL. You'll have at least a general idea. If it's bigger than your 11 horse motor, but not a V-twin, I'd guess between 12 and 18 horses.

[team-red-rider]

post the model type and code and i can tell u the HP and date of manufacture as well as other info =]