need help
 

I have a 1450 that spontaneously wont run right. Has 120+ lbs of compression, is getting fuel, and has good blue spark. I keep trying to time it with the static method, but I can not find any marks on the flywheel. I've tried gapping the points anywhere from 10 thou all the way up to 35 thou in 5 thou increments and still no luck. My current question is, how long should the points pin be(the pin that rides on the cam and pushes open the points)? Here after bit I will take it out and measure it.
any advice is appreciated. Btw, I have also swapped on known good coil, points, condensor, and spark plug.

If you are able to get adjust to .035 gap in points then it should be ok. blue spark is not really good spark you want a orangeish flash . by intermitant won't run do you mean it will not start occasionally ? or quits running ? have you tried a little carb spray in carb ? when it won't fire ( to determine if it is fuel related ) checked fuel bowl ? needle & seat oper. probably best to start with a new tune up set points,condenser ,plug push rod. it can be a real time waster otherwise using low octane fuel right? tried starting it in near dark to see if high voltage leaks ? Don 128

The "push rod" for the points was originally made of aluminum with a steel tip. The new push rods are all steel now. It is just better to replace the push rod with a new one, Part No KH-47-411-04.

The point gap should be in the window of .015" to .020". Then fine tune it from there.

The markings on the flywheel can be hard to read for some applications. Some sand paper on the flywheel flange, while rolling over the motor, usually uncovers the markings from dirt and rust. Once discovered, you may want to high light the markings with some sort of paint for future readings.

You've got that backwards...blue/purple spark is much stronger than orange, and is what you want.

I don't know who told you that you wanted an orange spark....but they were wrong. also, I am running (standard) 87 octane(which is lower than what the standard was whe the tractor was made). What are you trying to get at by asking me if I'm using low octane fuel?? I don't understand.

By intermtant, I mean that it'll fire every now and then but won't run.

It is getting plenty of fuel, but tried some ether anyways and it didn't make any difference.

Everything has been done on the tune up end.

I'm starting to think that the cam is excessivly wore or something.
Really starting to get frustrated, just a week ago this tractor ran like a dream.

Btw, the points pin seems to be all steel. I got my mics out and the pin measured 1.5436"

I just can't figure out what's wrong. I mean it's got 120lbs rolling compression (that's at starting speed with the decompression in effect so it is much higher than this). I am getting plenty of fuel, and I have great spark.
I will try holding some sand paper against the flywheel while I'm turning the engine over.....maybe then I will be able to find the timing marks.
thanks for the advice, keep it coming.
thanks,
robert

I had a 129 with the same problems, was getting everything it needed, ran like a champ the week before then it did what yours is. My problem was the keepers on one of the valves had somehow fallen off.

any idea what kind of compression it had? The valves just weren't closing.... I had thought about the valves, that's why I checked the compression. I guess that I can't rule it out though......

I have a neighbor down the road who's pulled cub cadets his whole life. His latest build was a pair of k341's that he runs in unison for his "two" cylinder tractor he pulls. they don't even look like kohlers anymore and they make ALOT more than their factory 16 hp, they are now fuel injected and have customed made heads with over head valves. He's supposed to come down here in a few hours..... we'll see what we can do.

thanks,
robert

I don't know what I did wrong, but took the coil, condenser, points, & etc off and put them back on. Set the points to 20 thou. Now it ran. Little fine tuning with the ear, and now I mowed for an hour with it.

The electrical can be a mystery on these somedays, has a mind of its own.ha Glad to here ya got it going, hate to see one not running.

Glad to hear you got it running. If you took it all apart and put it back together and it worked you may have had a bad connection. May want to clean each of the connections that you worked with to help avoid this in the future.