73 jd 600, spark on one cylinder

[dragonsp600]

i am working on a 73 john deere 600. is got the piston port ccw 440 engine. points ignition. I only have spark on the pto side cylinder. I swapped the wires coming from the stator to the coils and spark changed sides. so I know the coils and plug wires are good. I ohm tested both of the upper ignition coils on the stator. both had 1.6 ohms of resistance. which I read was what they should be. I took fine emery cloth and brake clean to the points multiple times and set points gaps. tested continuity of all the wires from the stator, points and condensor. unplugged the harness coming our of the engine to eliminate a bad wire going to dash or a bad key switch or something. still only have spark on the pto side.. from all my testing, I'm lead to believe the points or condensor is bad? does this sound correct? I don't want to just throw parts at it.. I can get points and condensors on partsreloaded, so may order them if you guys think that sounds right.

[400brian]

Sounds like good diagnosis work. Your conclusions sound good to me as well. Either you have a set of points that are not grounding, or they are grounded all the time. A condenser that has failed could be grounded all the time as well. Pull the flywheel, take a good look at the points, make sure they are passing juice across the contacts, and test the condenser for a grounded condition.

[dragonsp600]

how do I test the condenser for a grounded condition? I'm going to try to clean the points a bit more.. I am having a hell of a time finding anyone that sells the correct points and condenser for this thing. can you guys point me in the right direction?

[JDT]

Check the fork terminal ends on the wires that connect to the points. If they touch ground you will have no spark on that set of points.

Also pay close attention to the plastic insulating washers on the point terminal screws. If they are missing or the terminal is hooked to the wrong side of the insulator that will also ground out one side.

And of course you must have proper point gap.

One way to test the condenser is to swap it with the side that has spark and see is that side still has spark. Then you know both condensers are good.

[dragonsp600]

the condensers are soldered to the wires, so I cant just switch them.. I pulled everything apart again tonight and checked for anything grounding out. pulled everything off the stator plate and cleaned thoroughly. put everything back together and still no spark on the mag side. I tested both condensers while I was in there and per directions online they both tested good. but my meter could be off I guess. so I'm at the point I think I just have to order points and condensers... and maybe a new stator ignition coil if I can find a new one. anyone got any leeds on points and condensers for this thing??

Thanks!

[Steven Rempel]

Have you tried swapping the points with in the stator?
are the plug new and gaped right? swapped plugs mag to pto?

What method are you using to set the gap for the points and the timing? I use the homemade flashlight method (found on you tube) and have found in the past that one of the points may look like they are mailing contact but were indeed just out of spec and adjustment.

I say bad or worn out points.

just my thoughts hope it helps a bit. points are cheap so no big cost and if you have it open anyway... I think matt from newbreed.com would have points and such.

[dragonsp600]

I swapped the wires coming from the points going to the external ignition coils and sparked switched cylinders. so I knew the external coils were fine. doesn't matter what plugs I used, same results. I did not rotate the stator from its original location, so I should have no timing issues. I have been using a .014 thousandths feeler gauge to set the points gap through the flywheel windows when I see the points are opened up to there max.
I just ordered points and condensers off ebay, so hopefully that solves my issues. the stator coils tested good so I didn't bother to order that.

[78nmncrosscountry]

first time working on a 73 340 {points} I file the points and get spark for 5 pulls then file over again and get spark for 5 pulls. what am I doing wrong? does it need to be filed that much or more?

[JDT]

Philip it sounds like you have a bad condenser.

[dragonsp600]

so I just replaced the condensers. the points I ordered are not the right ones...go figure. put everything back together and now I have now spark at all...

does anyone have a fully assembled and working stator for a 73 piston port ccw kec 440 engine that they would want to sell.. ive about had it with this turd

[croyturbo]

You should be able to convert to cdi, but not sure what stator fits. Someone will know for sure what will work.

[JD440TF]

I just read this whole post and had a similar story about a month ago on a model 300. Had spark on one side. I replaced a coil, wires, plug ends, swapped things from side to side, ohm metered everything, the spark would work on one side, then not at all. It was very frustrating! Then my brother used scotch Brite and scrubbed the magnets on the flywheel and mating surfaces on the stator. Cleaned really well and put back together. Sled runs like a top! Put 35 miles on it last weekend and no isssues! Maybe this is your problem.


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[dragonsp600]

yah I need to stay as low budget as possible on this, fixing it for a guy I know. so cdi conversion wouldn't be preferred. I got spark back on one cylinder again, found when I soldered the wires to the new condensers I didn't do a very good job. so I pulled the whole stator off the engine and redid the soldering. so I'm back to spark on one cylinder.

I will definitely try cleaning the stator and flywheel! I'm gonna sand and clean the crap out of the points too.. again.. maybe there is just a layer of crap on the one side that isn't firing. this gets frustrating! hopefully will have this running before the snow is totally gone..