OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Finding and Swapping Wanted Victa 5-183 coils badly needed!

I require some old Victa coils that are still testing around 7-10?

I am surprised that someone is not re-making them, considering the current interest in the old Victas. I contacted one ebay seller who had some old ones that he tests but I found him so off-putting in his replies that I refused to buy anything off him. He had the attitude that he could not care less if people bought his coils or not which made me wonder if he could be bothered going to the post office to post them.

There is supposed to be one modern aftermarket coil that will work (Leading 5505). I ordered one recently from a mower parts company and it arrived in a sealed plastic packet and box, but believe it or not it was D.O.D. (="Dead on Arrival"). I couldn't work out what was wrong when I put it in and got no spark at all. So I tested it with the multimeter and got a constant reading of 1 kOhms through the lead and the positive wire. Dead! Someone in China or India must have missed a spot of solder! Have complained to the company I bought it from so hopefully can return it for a replacement or refund.

Does anybody have any old coils that are still testing at least 7 or more, or does anyone know of aftermarket coils that will work with the new electronic ignition modules?

If someone doesn't start re-making coils for these old Victas, there will be a lot of dead Victa 2 strokes sitting around sheds in future. I keep coming across perfectly good Victas with dead or poor spark due to failing or faulty coils.

Hi vint_mow,
As I said once before I'm fairly sure you can fit a PT coil, the plug wire would need extending but that is easy. I had a good look at it but didn't get around to proving that it would work, but I think it should. PT coils are a dime a dozen

I see the Powertorque coils come with the ignition module as a single unit. It would be pretty neat if this will work on the early Victas. Be interested to hear from other members if anyone has had success getting these to work on early Victa engines, before I fork out $74 bucks for one.

I have heaps of PT coils here if I get time I might see if one works but I don't really want to pull the fanwheel of a running motor just for the hell of it

Only the Powertorque with the Chinese engine casting with less cooling fins has the integrated ignition module. The older Aussie made Powertorque engine has a separate module.
How do you test the ohms (resistance) of a coil again?
Where in the multimeter do you plug the red and black wire? There's three ports in mine.

Basic coil test:-

Set your multimeter to 20K.
Place black terminal on spark plug lead end.
Place red terminal on the positive lead from the coil.
A good coil will be around 8-10 kohms for Victa, less for Briggs and Stratton, and I recall some really old coils were only 5-6 when new.

You can also test the connectivity. Turn dial to connectivity (usually red on most multimeters). Through positive wire and earth you should hear the beep from the multimeter. There should be no connectivity between the plug lead wire and the earth or positive wire on the coil, so no beep.

I am interested to know how low in kohms a coil can be and still work. I have a coil here that is testing only 5.94. I suspect it will be too low, but I do get spark on turning the flywheel, so worth a try.

Funny thing about coils, they will test a bit higher in warm compared to cold state. Place one in the sun for a while and it can test up to 1 KOhm or more higher than if it is cold. They can also test a bit higher after an engine has been running, possibly due to the warming effect, or simply due to gaining charge through the magneto system. Even without asking Morgan Freeman on Through the Wormhole for the answer, I am sure there is a simple reason for this, but it's just something I've noticed. I remember an old timer telling me that if you get an engine that is a bit hard to start, stand it out in the sun for a while on a hot day and often it will then start. Metal expands when hot, oil thins, vapours rise and expand more, any moisture present will evaporate etc. :-)

BTW, I've been told by a reliable source that Powertorque coils with built-in electronic ignition module will not work on early Victa. You have to get just a plain coil that is the same fit. Then you can add an aftermarket EI module, such as Stens, and this will work! I am not sure why the PT coils with built-in module won't work, but that is what I have been told.

Having said that, I was once misinformed by a technician that a modern Briggs coil with built in E.I. will not work on early Briggs motors. Well I installed one on a very old Briggs and guess what? It worked! So we can't always believe what we are told. Sometimes people have tried and fitted something incorrectly or not made a good earth connection, or have simply purchased a faulty module. They will tell you that something won't work when it will. Only way is for a larger number of people to try so a consensus of knowledge on these things can be established.

Sorry vint_mow, I would love to try it to prove it one way or the other but I just don't have time at the moment. I would like to disprove the PT with built in module story

Hi, was it zip start full crank coils your after or earlier

Hi all

I have seen new coils still for sale.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Victa+5-183+coil

Cheers
Max.

Hi All

Just a word of warning if purchasing from AMS do your homework first especially with hard to get parts.
I have just waited 3 months for a couple of pinion gears which they said were in stock with a 3 day dispatch.
After 5 updates for extended deliveries I rang their supplier and was informed parts NLA and that they had no orders for those parts.
I have now after showing them that the parts are NLA they changed their listing to discontinued, and I have received a refund but wasted 3 months.

mich

I haven't checked but I guess a coil off a sidepull would work, unless anybody can tell me that as the early Victas had the coil on the inside of the fanwheel and the sidepull and PT have the coil on the outside of the fanwheel. I don't really want to pull the fanwheel off a running F/C just to test this coil idea but I might have to. Much and all as I hate Aus Post with a passion I could post you a new early F/C coil, but I hate Aus Post charges with a passion.

Found a new aftermarket coil that will fit, and it is testing in the right range by my trusty multimeter: about 8.3.

No idea if it will work until I put it in and try. Will let everyone know if successful.

Earlier than the Zipstart rusty ute.

Well the sad news is that the aftermarket coil did not work. It fits perfectly and looks pretty much the same as the old one, but it will not work. I got a strange result with the spark lead firing sporadically, then not at all for some time, then firing again. It was all over the place. Weak spark one turn, strong spark next couple of turns, then nothing. Coil I tried is supposed to suit MA05183A, MA05529.

So I put the old coil back and now it sparks strong and consistently. Old coil tests at 6.3. The problem is probably as a member told me on another thread, it has something to do with the way the coil is wired, as well as the thickness of the wire and number of winds etc.

With the old coil testing at just 6.3, I can still get a very good spark with electronic ignition.



This was in fact the coil I trialed. It would not work properly for me.

I'm sure I've heard of people using a side pull Victa coil with the earlier Victa where the coil is inside the flywheel instead of
outside the flywheel and they just put the coil on backwards onto the laminated steel core.


Cheers
Max.

Max, I will give your suggestion a try if ever I come across an external coil.

Looking at the new aftermarket coil, I can see it is made a bit different. I wonder if I should have reversed the coil on the steel core? Would doing that have made any difference? I suspect not, but I guess it can't hurt to try. It is really odd the way it produces a spark sometimes but not all of the time.

Be great to have enough coils to do some trial and error testing to sort out which ones will work and which will not.

BTW, I contacted several coil rewiring companies and one manufacturer in Australia about the possibility of rewiring old Victa coils or even re-making them. The replies ranged from "not able to do" to "not worth our bother". I am surprised one of the mower parts companies has not started manufacturing replicas in Taiwan.

Problem is vint-mow, there is only 20 of us playing with this stuff. As I'm grounded at the moment and can't get about I will pull a motor out from the back and see if I can get a PT coil to work. I don't need to put it all together I can spin it on the bench with the drill and see if I get spark. This shouldn't take me too long to try.
Max, are you saying that if I use a PT coil, from running on the outside of the flywheel I should turn it over to run it on the inside of the F/C flywheel?

Just to confirm, you can't use a PT coil because the curve on the face is the wrong way and the coil is too thick. The sidepull coil looks like it would work ok as it is the same size as the cup starters but they are also like hens teeth. To fit a PT the points plate would need altering to allow the coil to sit further back but it is a lot of work and still may not work

Can't put a square peg in a round hole as they say, but NormK you're a champion for reporting back. Information is power.