OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Repairs and Maintenance Questions on Engines Questions On Briggs & Stratton Engines Do Quatro 40 Engines have a Coil issue ?

Pretty much self explanatory I guess.

I've just picked up a second Masport mower with a Briggs Quatro 40 engine fitted and it also has no spark like the other Masport which Norm is graciously helping me out with by supplying me with a replacement coil.

I've put a photo of the same coil as a reference so everyone can see what it exactly looks like.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi BB

That's pretty unlucky I think. Iv'e had heaps of Quatro 40's and other Briggs motors with weak or no spark mainly due to sitting idle for a period and rust forming on the flywheel magnets and pick up surface on the coil. From memory I have only replaced 1 coil so I think coil failure is a rare occurrence not having any moving parts.

Cheers
wce

Hi wce,

Must admit I would've thought so to, but both these coils were reasonably clean but the one of on the original machine had texta writing on it from some second hand mower shop with it's description "375 Sprint" written on it.

This tells me that someone had already been there previously and had the same issue with it's original coil failing.

Cheers,
BB.

That is a pity BB, I could have sent you 2 coils for the same postage cost as 1 I get the odd coil failure on these but not often

Same BB, I have noticed a few quattros at the tip with no spark - maybe its the plastic cover that helps cook them quicker, who knows.

Have a curbside one here now - Stihl Viking chassis - no spark and 200ml of black tar in the sump. Have to get around to having a look at it

Regards
Tyler

I spit and snarl every time I end up with one of those hereI only have one small socket to fit those stupid screws that hold the cover on and I always seem to spend a long time looking for that socket. The plastic cover shouldn't make much difference to the heat retention, the fan is right beside it. My guess is that somebody has cheaped out building the coils so they can save 20 cents on them

Hi Norm,

I think you're right on the money. BTW no big issue on this one, it's the other one that is far more urgent as I'm repairing it for a friend who loves his mower and I can't begrudge him of that if I can help it.

But as we all know it never rains, just pours.

Cheers,
BB.

PS Both these Quatros have deferring covers, one is all plastic while the other is only plastic up the top with a metal skirt underneath it. Which one is the newer unit ?

BB
Not sure which is older but both were designed but the biggest numnutter of all time and the one with the metal cover underneath is the worst. What sort of fool would design a cover that you had to remove the plastic cover then the metal cover so that you could get to the air filter off so you could see if the primer is priming and the kill switch is working. This clown goes to the top of the pile in the "I'm an idiot stakes"

Norm, I bet the guy who designed the G4 carby kill wire system runs a close second on your list

Others on my list would have to include all talon carby adjustments being covered by the cowl and whoever thought it was a good idea to make ryobi and homelite trimmers and leaf blowers fitted with no air filter.

Yes Tyler I do have a bit of a list, some designs are just difficult to believe that somebody of sound mind can create such stupid designs, the G4 and Talon cover are well up near the top of the list

Id tend to lean towards unlucky also BB, one yeah, it happens.....Two? unlucky.

If you need any parts let me know, i have a few spare coils floating around.

Anything i get not save-worthy i strip, i'll stick a multimeter on the coil and either keep or toss.



Not to mention those three dome nuts holding the cowl on, if you don't crack them first go the bolt they screw into turns also, usually due to the nut on the bottom spinning...PITA!

Hey Blended, this is the way to fix those Talon problems

Hi Guys,

and thanks for your comments. As far as covers etc go, just have a look at the vehicle industry and why mechanics charge so much. They spend most of their time removing covers and panels just to have a look and then all that time again to replace all the crap, thus lots of this hardware gets broken along the way.

Cheers,
BB.

Hi All

Coils arn't made to last forever.

Ignition coils have an almost-constant voltage running through them as long as the engine is running. This constant wear on the coil wires eventually can cause them to fail. Over time, the heat can act on the weakened coils and burn them out or melt them and cause them to cross, which also leads to burnout.

Ignition coils are very rugged and reliable, but can fail for a variety of reasons. Heat and vibration can damage the coil's windings and insulation causing shorts or opens in the primary or secondary windings. But the number one killer of ignition coils is voltage overload caused by bad spark plugs or plug wires.


Life Span. Federal law in the United States dictates that the ignition coil and ignition module on new vehicles are warranted for at least two years or 24,000 miles, whichever occurs first. The insulation in the ignition coil will degrade over time, but many coils are designed to last 100,000 miles or more.(some vehicle coils in Australia have a two year or 40,000 km warranty )

I've had 4 quantum motors that required replacing the coil in the last 12 months.

The Talon cowl studs, very annoying.

Cheers
Max

To change the thermostat in a VF Commodore requires the motor to be removed

Hate to see what has to be done to change a plug ???

In some of the turbo model Subaru's it's nearly an engine out or at least lift to gain access due to the front rails being 20 mm away from the rocker covers.

It's all about manufacturing and nothing about servicing isn't it ?

BB.

To change the back 3 plugs in a toyota aurion, the 'intake plenum' (effectively the top of the intake manifold) and some of the ducting to the air filter have to be removed.

Genuine intake plenum gasket $60, 6x spark plugs $40 each

Hi Tyler,

Yes I've heard about those. There are quite a few others with a similar design that have to have the same done.

Like I suggested it's only about ease of manufacturing and nothing about servicing as that's a cost born by the consumer.

Cheers,
BB.

My Talon "fix" is better than yours Norm!

We had a bit of a discussion on the Talons a while ago and the general feeling was that they weren't THAT bad but close to your thoughts

Hi all,

I've found that the Talon's chassis wasn't bad, it was merely that Chinese knock off Briggs that was fitted is just made out of super soft metal and didn't take long to wear out.

Cheers,
BB

BB, one of the big problems with the Talons I could never get 2 with the same wheels so I could swap them around when I needed to.

I’ve got maybe 4 talons at present all with different bases, I find it hard to get catchers to suit.
I won’t touch them now without a catcher.

Catchers are as bad as the wheels, no 2 the same, I have a few catchers here but I have no idea which ones they fit

Was just over in bunnings getting some washers for the victa carbies and was looking at the discount trolley which had about 20 trolley wheels on it.
The guy next to me bought an armful. Turns out number one son made a billy cart on the holidays, finished it whilst his dad was at work last week. No wheels, so nicked the mowers wheels.

Asked what sort of mower - a Talon.
I said that the plastic wheel bushings wouldn't last very long on a billy cart

He responded quote "the wife says he went down the hill, swerved left then right then one snapped and he went a*** over head"

So he is spending his day off in bunnings trying to track down the right size wheels

Hi All,

Well one of the two mowers is back up and firing as it should've thanks to our good friend Norm, now all I've got to do is find another coil for the not so important mower that is going to replace my old friend the Masport scalping machine that's certainly done its dues since the year 1999.

The machine I've got is another Masport with superb non wobbly wheels on it and a corrosion free alloy chassis but another Quatro with a shot coil. Oh well I'm sure I'll find one before October when scalping duties are due.

BTW my thoughts on why these coils seem to blow easier on these original style Briggs engines is that they probably had an Asian manufacturer make them cheaper by this stage and that the engine has a extra cover holding the heat inside the original metal air cowl cover.

So a cover to cover the cover. Now that makes lots of sense doesn't it ?

Cheers,
BB.

What method do you use to scalp the lawn BB? just a regular mower on low height or something different.

I have one here with a bar blade that I am considering drilling holes along the blade and putting in thick trimmer line and 'dethatching' via that method

The front lawn was feeling spongy - seems like it has an inch thatch layer.

Not sure how well it will go

BB,

What motor is on the old Masport scalping machine and is it still running?

Hi Norm,

It's the first Quantum 35 Square black block engine which has been a beauty but it's sadly getting a tad tired with it lightly blowing a bit of smoke.

Cheers,
BB.

BB I have never tried to grind/file the Quantam coil legs back that little bit so they will fit Quatro type motors it just needs a couple of mm off the legs, just another thing I was going to try one day when I was bored and wanting to try something different