Hello all, any help would be appreciated. A friend recently gave me a 2002 mule that had been sitting in a barn for 3 years. He complained it had no power, was tired of fooling with it and got a new one.

So…. pulled the plugs and the rear one looked like it had never fired. Sure enough, no spark. It had apparently been running on just one cylinder. Front cylinder has spark. So here is what I have done. I pulled the coil (boy was that fun) and tested it. Open secondary! Voila, I was sure a new coil would fix it, along with new plugs and wires for good measure. But it didn't fix it, still no spark on the rear. Next I checked the flywheel pickup resistance, it is within limits. Finally, I checked continuity all the way back to the ignitor. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that I had to repair several wires that rates had chewed through. Anyway, all wires look good all the way to the ignitor.

So what you think the problem is? A new ignitor is $250 and I am hesitant to try that for a mule that is worth maybe $251! But if you think that is what it is, I guess I will try.

Thanks for any thoughts you might have, John.

 

Don't know Mules, but I would try to find someone with a similar unit and see if they are willing to try your igniter and v/v with the offer of $250 if your mule ruins their igniter.

 

My 2510 manual has a testing procedure for the igniter, however after quickly looking at the 3010 service manual, I could not find one for the igniter. The only thing it says to check is for peak voltage at the pickup coil (4.5vdc) and if that checks out, then the next step is to replace the igniter assuming the voltage of the rear coil is at or near 0vdc. However, I would take one more look at the wiring before spending $250 since you stated there was previous signs of rodent damage. Also, pull the connectors off the igniter and check for any corrosion on the terminals.

 

Thanks for the helpful advice. An update. I found a used ignitor on ebay, plugged it in, and voila, I have spark on my rear cylinder. Engine fired up and is running. I am still having an issue with it running needing toI feather the choke when it seems to not be getting enough gas. But that is likely a carb or fuel pump issue. So on to try to figure that one out!