Lawn Boy 10323 coil resistance specs (99-2911)

[hotrodsnapper]

Hey guys,

Long time no post. I got a Lawnboy model 10323 (2004 model I think) with the 6.5 duraforce a few weeks ago. It ran like a dream the first time I used it, but I went out to fire it up last week and got no spark. There was a little rust on the flywheel magnets and the coil, so I sanded them both off, set the gap with a business card, and put it back together and still nothing. I understand that these are prone to failure, so I went ahead and ordered one, but in the meantime I'd like to be able to fully convince myself that this coil is dead.

I've searched all over for primary and secondary resistances and have not found any. I checked the resistance with a known inaccurate VOA meter, and all I can really conclude before I dig out my good one is that neither circuit is open, which makes me question whether it's really dead. I'd love to find that it's actually OK and that way I'll have a spare on hand if the new one dies.

Does anyone know where you can find these specs? The Toro/Lawnboy part number is 99-2911.

Thanks in advance!

[topsites]

All right, what you do is grab it by the handlebars with both hands and start to
swinging it in a big circle like an Olympic hammer throw, and keep going faster
and faster until you either can't hold or can't go any faster, then let it go.

Repeat until it's in small, disposable pieces.
Throw those away.

Buy a real mower.

[hotrodsnapper]

All right, what you do is grab it by the handlebars with both hands and start to
swinging it in a big circle like an Olympic hammer throw, and keep going faster
and faster until you either can't hold or can't go any faster, then let it go.

Repeat until it's in small, disposable pieces.
Throw those away.

Buy a real mower.

OUCH!

Not such a big fan of these guys, huh?

I read a bunch of reviews on this mower before getting it. The general concensus seemed to be that everyone loves them when they work, and when they don't, well, the hammer throw opinion is not uncommon. I use a 21" on a 1/4 acre every other week, and have a pusher as a backup, and I have no problem tinkering on equipment, so I got one. I paid $75 bucks for one off craigslist that fired right up on the first pull. And let's just say it's got some big brass ones. Even after sinking 25 bucks into the coil, I still have a lot of mower for $100.

There a plenty of Lawnboy fans on Lawnsite. But nobody has ever said that they were the most reliable machines out there. The M&R forums are full of lawnboys, so I guess you hear a lot about their problems.

[davidcalhoun]

Sorry I don't have an answer for this question.

You might check out the gardenweb forum group under lawnmowers. They have lots of posters concerning LawnBoys.

[hotrodsnapper]

You're not kidding about gardenweb, they love these things. No specs there that I can find, but someone did put up a "recipe" for baking the coil at 200 degress for 20 minutes that tends to fix them. I'm sure not a permanent fix, but I may try that since neither winding (?) is open, and it will give me a good excuse to wrench on this particularly cool engine before the new coil comes in.

My wife's gonna FREAK!!

[carriedrewdog]

I change out the coils on these things more often than the plugs. I dont know of any reliable Ohm tests for these, I make sure the grounding dead man switch is not the problem and then change the coil. These coils are 2 stage units firing at TDC up to about 800 rpm then switching to about 20 degrees advanced above that. It's possible for either stage to go bad on you. The 2 stage coil is for easier pulling, in lieu of a compression release.

You may find some help in the walk behind mower section at "mytractorforum".

[OTAlucard]

i have 2 of these one runs one is for parts

and i went through 2 used coils and somebody told me if the sparkplug is realy used it will mess it up

the oven thing actualy works some times i tryed it on a briggs motor and it fired right up never on the lawnboy

and turning it on and off alot isnt good for the coil and the whole motor unlike a 4 stroke

its just best to replace the coil with a new one if you cant bake the old one

the lawnmower will go through anything 6.5 hp and its so light i use it all the time on the job


and carriedrewdog :: is right about the deadmans switch the little piece of metal can still touch when you hold down the kill bar

[hotrodsnapper]

MTF had a bunch of lawnboy discussions, thanks for the tip.

The coil is going in the oven as soon as I get home, and I'm gonna also sand on the ground wire plug and the screw holes, as indicated on MTF.

OTAlucard: you're right the LB 6.5 will go through anything. The day i got it I ran it through an overgrown spot at my house. Grass was wet and well over my ankles (8-10" ??), and I hadn't removed the mulch plate and fan that the PO left on it. Powered right through the stuff at a fast walk, with just a couple stringers. A second pass and perfect. I had just mounted the discharge chute when it wouldn't start, but discharging this ought to be a brush mower.

And the RWD is night/day better than FWD of lesser mowers. U guys using FWD need to test drive one of these. It pull like it would climb a tree.

[carriedrewdog]

I have never baked a coil as it seems to be a temp fix but many have had some luck with it. I've had good service & prices from here -http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Small-Engine-Parts-House__W0QQ_armrsZ1.

[dutch1]

I worked for 6 years in a LB/Toro shop and never saw or referenced a resistance spec for LB--they're either good or bad. No spark, bite the bullet, spend the bucks and replace it. Never tried the oven treatment and in a shop envoirnment, it's not going to happen because of the comeback issue.

I'd be safe in saying that I replaced a minimum of 30-40 coils a year. I don't know who LB"s vendor was for coils but they always had problems with them.

Dutch

[hotrodsnapper]

:confused:Yep, I wouldn't believe it unless I had done it myself. :confused:

I baked it in a preheated 200 degree oven for 30 minutes, and put it back on. Spun the flywheel over by hand and got a great white blue spark with a good snap to it. Put it all back together and it came to life on the first pull.

I ordered a coil off ebay for a hair over 25 shipped from an outfit in Canada when it first failed, so if it doesn't last long I'm OK.

And I finally got to try out this thing discharging. Two words: A Beast

only problem is that there's a little piece of metal that crosses the bottom of the discharge chute, and in the wet grass (dew was falling at about 8 when I got it running--TN humidity) hanged up around the metal and it went back to mulching. I may try and hacksaw this bar to keep it from clogging up, but other than that this thing is too much fun!

Thanks for all the help ya'll.

Now for the hot-rodding :cool2:

[carriedrewdog]

I have had grass catch on that bar too. No experience with modifying it but I would recon without that bar the deck would have a little more flex in it. Maybe bending a different angle to it would be worth a try before removing.

Can't beat that unique 2 stroke sound.

[leeker]

I heard Stihl has a heat test like this with their coils. Put a coil on like Dutch said. Its the coil !!!!!!

[Gyrobob]

I heard Stihl has a heat test like this with their coils. Put a coil on like Dutch said. Its the coil !!!!!!


Hope someone still pays attention to this thread.

I have a Lawnboy 10323 (2002, 21", 6.5hp Duraforce) I bought several months ago. When the thing works it is fantastic. I drilled out the idle jet a teense, and the surging has stopped.

Often it has no spark when I try to start it after a few days of sitting still. If I take it apart enough to get to the coil, and heat it up some (10 min with a hairdryer) it'll make spark and run for hours and hours.

Let it sit for a few more days, and nothing. Heat it up and it works again.

What is it about this coil that makes it not work at room temp, but work fine when heated up to around 125 degrees?

I'm about to order another coil, maybe this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Ignition-coil-lawnboy-92-1152-99-2911-99-2916-/120753648824?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item1c1d7a74b8

Any info on this will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

Bob