A Green equipment question- Deere X300 rider with a dead cylinder

[hodge]

My father has about a 10 year old X300, 1130 hours. It has been used residentially, on very hilly land. Amazingly, the K46 is still going.
About a week ago, he started dealing with a low power situation. I pulled the plugs and checked them first. They looked really good, but I went ahead and replaced them because of the hours. I did confirm a low power situation, and I then started pulling plug wires. When I pulled off the right side (as you are sitting on the seat), it quit. I reinstalled that plug wire, restarted it, and pulled off the left plug wire- no difference. So, I'm not getting spark to that plug. I then pulled the engine cover off, and the photos show what I found- what you see is exactly what I saw. On the left bank, there is a wire coming off of the coil, running to the right side coil

. The end is laying loose on the right side cylinder, no connector. Further, there is another wire with a connector laying on the cylinder. I don't know exactly what I'm looking at, so if anyone can advise me, it would be greatly appreciated. Is the wire from the left coil supposed to have a spade and connect to the right coil? I'm assuming that the loose/spaded wire is not being used. The engine cover as never been off, so this condition is how it's been since new.

 

[hodge]

I figured it out.

 

[lugbolt]

I have seen plenty of those do that not just JD though. Good find. I'm dealing with an Exmark as we speak (Kohler) Lazer Z with no spark on one cyl. Gonna be fun to put a coil in it, gotta pull the engine. I reckon I outta call the owner and give him the good news and I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

 

[Orangeglow]

Hey Hodge, since you found the problem, please clearly explain what you found, and how you fixed it, so this thread may help others, who end up having the same problem.

 

[hodge]

Hey Hodge, since you found the problem, please clearly explain what you found, and how you fixed it, so this thread may help others, who end up having the same problem.

i figured it out yesterday evening, and put it to practice this morning. There is a kill wire that goes to the right side coil, and a lead that goes from the right to the left coil. When the switch is turned off, the coils are grounded. The main kill wire and the end of the lead had come loose, and were lying on the right cylinder. The lead was grounding out on the cylinder, which is why the left coil wasn't providing spark. I reconnected the main kill wire and the lead to the right coil, and all is good.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Those magneto 'kill' wires are supposed to have diodes in them to prevent 'backfeed',usually hidden under the heatshrink at the 'Y' connection