MW battery ignition

Richard94 · Jul 18, 2023

Pretty new to working on a garden tractor, this is my first one so bare with me please. I recently got a MW (Gilson model GIL-33045A) and it was running when I got it, but it was wired to use a battery ignition with a automotive coil (some GM part). Well the wire from the coil to the battery melted and messed up the battery. I looked up that if you wanted to replace the original ignition coil you have to pull the engine, is this true? Also could I re wire it for a battery ignition again? If anyone knows any good wiring diagrams of how to re wire it would be great. And I'm not sure what coil I should use either.
Any info helps, like I said I'm pretty novice at this.

T.R.K. · Jul 18, 2023

Not familiar with MW, but Gilson (Gilson Brothers.?) made a lot of lawn mowers. Does it have a kohler or a Briggs in it? And is it a single
cylinder with external points on the side of the block?

If so you should be able to re-wire for battery ignition. There is probably a Youtube video on that conversion.

Richard94 · Jul 18, 2023

(quoted from post at 18:14:10 07/18/23) Not familiar with MW, but Gilson (Gilson Brothers.?) made a lot of lawn mowers. Does it have a kohler or a Briggs in it? And is it a single
cylinder with external points on the side of the block?

If so you should be able to re-wire for battery ignition. There is probably a Youtube video on that conversion.

It has a Briggs single cylinder. I've seen some videos of it wired up, but I'm not sure which coil to buy. I can't find just a standard 12v coil and condenser, which I what I think I'm needing. So I was just hoping someone could give me a brand name or model number for a coil.

wore out · Jul 18, 2023

If you are unsure what engine it has a
photo would be helpful, but no matter
what engine it has you would have to do
what it takes to remove the air shrouding
over the flywheel and POSSIBLY the
flywheel itself to replace the
''magneto'' coil.

On the other hand, apparently it's been
running with a ''Kettering'' ignition
system so there's no reason you can't
repair that setup.

Small engine mag setups typically have a
high breaker point dwell time so it's a
good idea to use a coil designed for
that, a coil for a Kohler single cylinder
engine with battery/Kettering ignition is
a good choice for a setup like this,
although many will argue and say that a
''true'' 12 Volt automotive replacement
coil will be adequate and typically less
costly.

Richard94 · Jul 18, 2023

Yeah I figured it would be a bit of work to replace the actual magnetron, so I would prefer just to hook up a external coil.

I don't think it was a Kettering type ignition, I'm not 100% what that is though. It was wired up with what looked like a coil pack and module type deal, with the wires just ran into where there would be a two pronged plug.

All the external 12v coils I see say things about internal resistor or without resistor. So I'm unsure which I should be getting. Electrical things are definitely not my strong suit.

wore out · Jul 18, 2023

That's a GM electronic ignition module and coil, from the photos it's not clear if they used the module or just the coil, and if it was triggered by the breaker points or POSSIBLY by a pickup module and a magnet or tab on the flywheel, an INTERESTING conversion, for sure!

Richard94 · Jul 19, 2023

It was looking pretty sketchy when I got it, but it ran so I just went with it.
While it was running I was having to pull the spark plug wire to get it to shut back off. Was it because of that electronic ignition? Cause I'm hoping with a new coil and condenser wires up correctly that it will shut off with the key. If not I guess I'll have to look there next.

T.R.K. · Jul 19, 2023

Kettering ignition is an ancient term for battery and coil ignition that almost nobody but Wore Out uses any more. I had to 'Google' it.

You could use the coil from a Kohler K181, 241, 301, 341, etc. lots of choices on Ebay as well as (probably) an OEM coil. The last OEM
Kohler coil I sold at work was well over $100.

If I was wanting it to run, I would buy a coil from NAPA. part number IC14SB. (Please note, your points life may be shorter with this
coil. Some of the engines I have it on don't mind and yet there is one or two that need the points filed pretty often.)

For a condenser you can probably use the original Briggs condenser. Or whatever condenser is on it now, if it is still good and they
seldom go bad. Or you can use the condenser from the above series of Kohler engines.

You probably already know, but the wire from the ignition switch goes to the coil +. The wire from the points goes to the coil -. The
condenser can connect to either end of the wire between the coil - and the points.

Richard94 · Jul 19, 2023

(quoted from post at 18:26:03 07/19/23) Kettering ignition is an ancient term for battery and coil ignition that almost nobody but Wore Out uses any more. I had to 'Google' it.

You could use the coil from a Kohler K181, 241, 301, 341, etc. lots of choices on Ebay as well as (probably) an OEM coil. The last OEM
Kohler coil I sold at work was well over $100.

If I was wanting it to run, I would buy a coil from NAPA. part number IC14SB. (Please note, your points life may be shorter with this
coil. Some of the engines I have it on don't mind and yet there is one or two that need the points filed pretty often.)

For a condenser you can probably use the original Briggs condenser. Or whatever condenser is on it now, if it is still good and they
seldom go bad. Or you can use the condenser from the above series of Kohler engines.

You probably already know, but the wire from the ignition switch goes to the coil +. The wire from the points goes to the coil -. The
condenser can connect to either end of the wire between the coil - and the points.

I ended up googling it because I thinks that's the first time I've seen Kettering anything mentioned.

Well it didn't have any condenser on it when I got it, only that electronic ignition and it was just loose under the hood. I got me what seems to be a basic 12v ignition coil from O'Reilly masterpro brand. I also got the condenser there, them both together was about 25 bucks. But they didn't have any spark plug wire that would work for it so I'm trying for somewhere else.

It wasn't wired to the ignition key, it was just straight to the battery. From the videos I've seen it seems like most people run the + wire straight from the coil to the battery, does that drain the battery with it off? And if I wired it to the key switch would it shut off the engine with the key?

Oh and thanks for the model numbers, there good to have

MW battery ignition

Richard94

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T.R.K.

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wore out

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wore out

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