129 problems
 

I just bought a 129 from a fellow member a few weeks ago that had no compression. After i removed the head i found out the connecting rod had snaped. A few days later i removed the motor and removed the oil pan. What i found was what i hoped wouldnt happen. The rod had snapped but in the prossess chipped off a chunk of the cylinder. :bash2: So i replaced the motor with one that was in my 122. A couple days ago I tried to start it up and it wouldnt do anything. I jumped the solenoid and it would crank but have no spark. Last night i replaced the points and coil and still nothing. So im thinking either the switch and solenoid are bad. Or i need to redo the whole electrical system. What do you guys think.

With new points, make sure you clean the contacts with a fine abrasive. I've had new points not work until I did this. After that, I think I'd run a wire from the battery + terminal to the + side of the coil. Then see if you get spark. If so, then it's the switch (or a wire attached to the switch). If no spark, then I'd suspect a poor ground on the condenser or the condenser itself (since the coil and points are new).

More than once ive seen coroded connections on the ignition switch. just wiggle the connector on the swich and see if it helps.

I'd check the condensed and ground.

Don't wanna sound like a smart @$$ but be sure you hooked the points and condenser to the -Neg side of the coil. I hooked mine up wrong once and like to never figured it out! be sure you have a good ground to the battery and engine is grounded,then start checking connections like others have said.

So here is where I am now. I did what you all told me to do and I got the old girl to start but the key switch still doesn't work. I replaced the solenoid and the V/R and still nothing. what are you supposed to do to the V/R to get it to work I don't have the instructions anymore and could use the help. I tested the switch and it was getting power when I turned it to the first notch and the next notch but now im not getting anything from the switch. Im tempted to buy a new switch and a new wiring harness and say screw it to this mess. I need a plowing tractor before snow starts flying or ill be in trouble this winter...

Have you downloaded a wiring diagram. I believe the wiring harness on the 1x8/9 series tractors is more reliable than those on the 1x6/7 series tractors, so unless the PO hacked it up, I would just ohm it out to verify it's good. I had wiring issues with my 1650 and removed the black sheathing bundling the wires to make them easier to trace. I also had bad connections within the black plug to the switch, so I wired each wire to the switch. Wiring is pretty simple on these tractors - don't buy a new harness yet.

There might be some v/r instructions in the technical library too.

Good luck,
Bill

If you didn't mess with the wiring when replacing the motor and it ran before the engine ate itself I would double check the wires you messed with during the install. Get one wire wrong can be a real headache. I Know. The electrical diagram and a multimeter really helped me.

Start circuit on yours goes from kys start terminal to PTO safety start switch (orange wire) to neutral safety switch (orange wire) to start solenoid (orange w black wire). You should have 12 volts at start solenoid small terminal during start position, if not, trace back to see where you are losing 12v positive