Without having to take apart this engine- can someone please refresh my
memory, as to what cam or eccentric actuates the points rod on a Briggs
16 HP engine, vertical cylinder ?

It's in a ' 72 Mont. Ward lawn tractor- it had intermittent then no
spark- and the points are not opening/closing enough to run the engine.
I've had a 9HP apart before, but that was a LONG time ago-

whatever makes the points actuating rod move in/out appears to be worn
to the point the rod barely moves back and forth

also, do they make an electronic conversion to do away with points on
this engine ?

thanks

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Without having to take apart this engine- can someone please refresh my
memory, as to what cam or eccentric actuates the points rod on a Briggs
16 HP engine, vertical cylinder ?

It's in a ' 72 Mont. Ward lawn tractor- it had intermittent then no
spark- and the points are not opening/closing enough to run the engine.
I've had a 9HP apart before, but that was a LONG time ago-

whatever makes the points actuating rod move in/out appears to be worn
to the point the rod barely moves back and forth

also, do they make an electronic conversion to do away with points on
this engine ?

thanks


There is a extra cam on the camshaft for the breaker points. I do believe
that B&S has a Magnetron conversion for this engine. The age may be a
problem though.
Greg

thanks

so it's either the Magnetron, or a new cam, or regrind the cam

lots of work just to get the points to operate...

On 6 Nov 2005 04:06:06 -0800, "UNIVERSAL MIND"
wrote:

thanks

so it's either the Magnetron, or a new cam, or regrind the cam

The cam is usually made of a harder material than anything that
follows it. I doubht the cam needs to be reground...or replaced.

lots of work just to get the points to operate...


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well I got it running- turned out the locking nut on the points
adjustment screw, needs to be snug against the block while adjusting-
or it won't set the gap properly- once I snugged up the nut a bit, then
set gap, it got spark back, started, and ran

other problems surfaced- the cylinder head was leaking compression from
one bolt head- I removed the head, cleaned the surfaces, and
reinstalled with sealer on the old gasket- fixed that.

now intermittently, the spark just goes away and the engine stalls- I
believe this is a prime candidate for an electronic conversion- by what
I'm hearning now, it requires the flywheel to be sent to Briggs and
repolarized ? They do that for free, but shipping cost and time
involved.

for how much I use this machine, maybe new points/condenser would do
the trick

On 7 Nov 2005 15:24:16 -0800, "UNIVERSAL MIND"
wrote:

well I got it running- turned out the locking nut on the points
adjustment screw, needs to be snug against the block while adjusting-
or it won't set the gap properly- once I snugged up the nut a bit, then
set gap, it got spark back, started, and ran

other problems surfaced- the cylinder head was leaking compression from
one bolt head- I removed the head, cleaned the surfaces, and
reinstalled with sealer on the old gasket- fixed that.

now intermittently, the spark just goes away and the engine stalls- I

??? Bad spark plug wire? I've never heard of anyone replacing such
a wire on a small engine, but...

Run it in the dark and make sure the spark isn't leaking out of the
wire, at least in places you can see.

A friend had a car like that once. It was daytime, but not bright,
and after I looked for a while, I saw a teeny spark between two
adjacent sparkplug wires, or a wire and a bracket or the block. I
forget.. Each time I saw the spark, the engine missed. But it didn't
happen every cycle.


believe this is a prime candidate for an electronic conversion- by what
I'm hearning now, it requires the flywheel to be sent to Briggs and
repolarized ? They do that for free, but shipping cost and time
involved.

for how much I use this machine, maybe new points/condenser would do
the trick


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The spark plug wire and coil are one unit on a Briggs- if you change
the coil, the wire gets changed too.

On 8 Nov 2005 04:12:34 -0800, "UNIVERSAL MIND"
wrote:

The spark plug wire and coil are one unit on a Briggs- if you change
the coil, the wire gets changed too.

I know they're one unit, but if the wire was leaking the spark and I
didn't want to pay for the whole unit, I'd splice in a new wire to the
stub of the old wire. I got the impression that money was a concern.
Or maybe you could put a thick coating of silicone cenent.

I've used GE silicone cement, the thick clear, white, or black stuff,
(I used clear or black) on the high voltage of a television to stop
leakage, and it worked fine.


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