33 replies to this topic

[westdestined72]

Hello folks would like to first introduce myself. I'm Mike from northeast NY. I had been browsing the cl for sometime looking for a GT that would suit my needs around the house, driveway maintenance, snow removal. I found the Bolens 800 I absolutely love how HD it is. Not a big fan of new equipment seems it always breaks even with proper care. Besides I love anything vintage/antique.
I have been intermittently working on the Bolens not having much success getting it to run well. Last week I had it running for about an hour then it started acting up so I started adjusting the carb when I realized it had the incorrect fuel needle the spark plug was an autolite. Prior to starting it I cleaned the fuel system, tank, rebuilt the carb, replaced fuel lines.
Today I went out to the garage to replace the feel needle with the proper t handle, put in a fresh D16, adjusted/filed the points and had no spark. I'm thinking magneto?
Any thoughts?
thank you
Mike

[Bolens 1000]

Hi, Welcome to GTT

 

Do you have the original magneto behind the flywheel of do you have the replacement automotive 12vt coil installed?

 

 

If its acting up when hot it can be ignition related, if you have a spark tester you can see if your getting anything from the mag.

 

We would love to see some pictures of your tractor!

I believe I just sold you the carb jet a few days ago

[wilberj]

Welcome to GTtalk. 

[WrenchinOnIt]

Hello welcome, lots of good folks, experience and knowledge here . Check the site sponsor list (sounds like maybe you have!) several specialize in Bolens and can diagnose your problems and supply parts needed to get you up and running. Yes, pics are a must

[MichaelBeck]

Hi, I have spent the last two weeks curing exactly this type of issue. Some things I found - Where your condenser and the little wire that runs through the bottom of the box are on the points assembly - needs to be on the inner side of the spring. Check your connections to the kill wire, making sure it is not grounded out.

[westdestined72]

Bolens 1000

Yes I have ordered from you twice so far, I appreciate the quick response and shipping times, awesome work!!! I have the original magneto in the S7D, in fact everything in the Bolens is original except the throttle/choke cables and the bolts that act as the lever knobs  .

I did put her on the ignition tester, shows no spark. I played around with it for quite sometime this evening, pulled the magneto off and cleaned it up a bit with an end result of nothing.

I have been a member here on the GTtalk for about a month or so but I waited until I really got into the GT to post. This place is full of incredible knowledge as I downloaded manuals for the 800 and read a lot of posts. If it weren't for this forum I'd still be bashing my head of the fact that the GT wouldn't drive (freewheel pin) as when I picked it up from the gentleman I bought it from first thing I did was try to put her into gear to prevent it from rolling around the back of my truck.

 

MichaelBeck

I had been reading your posts and trying things on the Bolens as we had been having similar issues, I believe this evening I had the wire on the inner side of the spring with no luck.

[westdestined72]

I will post photos soon

[MichaelBeck]

Might pay to double check - I had no spark the other day, and swapping those wires to the other side of the spring cured a bunch of things, that and a properly grounded condenser.

[westdestined72]

Might pay to double check - I had no spark the other day, and swapping those wires to the other side of the spring cured a bunch of things, that and a properly grounded condenser.

Thank you, I will have to double check my wire routing I may have misplaced the condenser wire, makes sense as it just ran a few days ago and after cleaning the points today it mysteriously lost spark.

[westdestined72]

A few pictures, I have the hood off for eaze of engine tuning.

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[Bolens 1000]

Very Nice survivor!

its a 1963 if you did not know already

 

Like others have mentioned check the breaker box to see if anything is missing or grounding out, sometimes I'll have a wire grounding out on the breaker box and to test if I do I'll pull the breaker cover and see if the machine starts, if it does you got a problem in the points area.

 

I hope its not the magneto, but if it is there's still hope.

[westdestined72]

I will further diagnose the breaker box/points. I had it apart yesterday to file the contacts on the points to clean them up, I also cleaned all the terminal ends on the wires from the magneto to the breaker box, and breaker box to the ignition switch. This leads me to believe I may have done something silly during the process.

[gardentractornut]

Welcome to GTT! 

 

Nice lookin' 800 you got there! Hopefully I can be of some help, but I don't know anything that Doc doesn't. 

 

Good luck! 

[MichaelBeck]

Yep as above to the breaker box, I lined mine inside with insulating tape - make sure not to get oil in there as it makes a mess of the tape

[westdestined72]

Welcome to GTT!

Nice lookin' 800 you got there! Hopefully I can be of some help, but I don't know anything that Doc doesn't.

Good luck!