Reply To: Howard 350 (Kohler engine) restart after years.

[rjy]

When the rotavator stopped, both times – once with the plug that’s been in it for years, once with a brand new plug, no spark was visible. I have not checked since, I’ll turn it over tomorrow and see what happens.

The magnetic rotor should be OK. After all, it works, and magnets don’t “come and go”. The cast iron blower/flywheel is a good fit, it pulled off the taper with a bang as I’d expect. There’s a spring washer type thing between the rotor and the blower/flywheel.

I can’t fathom how the ignition works. With points, they break the current at exactly the right instance when the magnet’s passing the coil, but how on earth does the electronic device “know”?

I might put the new electronic device on, if that seems a reasonable idea. It’s cosmetically different from the old one, but the wiring seems the same.