[JPWright]

I picked up a cub cadet 102 a little while ago. It had a bad paint job and nuts and bolts were very rusty, but it was mostly complete including a rear lift. The seller said that it ran but when I got it home, I discovered that it did not run well at all. I took the carb apart but it was not rebuildable (the main jet was stripped) so I invested in a new carburetor and readjusted the governor. It also needed battery hold down brackets. It now starts harder than my other Kolhers. It runs good when warmed up. It had good tires and I took the front ones off and changed them with one of my 100s.

I took the spark plug out and cranked the starter. The hard starting is from the spark plug not firing when the key is turned to “start”. When I let off the key it sparks great. What is going on?