Do coils go out frequently on small engines?

[WhyMe]

i've been in a fix it mode for 2 cycle stuff. Benn fixing freinds and families equipment. I have encountered, what seems to be bad coils in 3 of them. couple of them would seem to dies when hot and one was outright dead.

so are bad coils pretty common in small engines?

 

[Quest]

IMHO not necessarily so.

I tend to came across Chinese made OPE engine ignitions gone more often than brand name ones. But I did have a couple of failures to B&S, Subaru-Robin and even Hondas.

So, chances are, the failure possibilities are equal in my book.

Q.

 

[abycat]

ive never seen a bad one. i have seen damaged and rusty ones.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: abycat
ive never seen a bad one. i have seen damaged and rusty ones.


I've never had one fail.

 

[fdcg27]

I'd say that coil failures are pretty rare, in that I've never seen one in the forty or so years I've been using and maintaining OPEs.
My newest OPE, though, dates from the 'nineties, so it might be that ignition coil quality, along with everyhting else, has gone way downhill in recent years.

 

[MuzzleFlash40]

I had one go out on my Mercury a year or so ago. So it happens.

 

[simple_gifts]

Had two fail in two years on a 1983 Cub Cadet I was fixing for a coworker. Spare parts were from a CC dealer and not cheap.

Come to think of it, I suspect most of my repair were from the beast vibrating. Bad batteries, broken coil leads, etc.

 

[bvance554]

Never had a bad one...

 

[lars11]

No not the coil, but one or two spart plug wires that broke inside the rubber/assembly on both chinese trimmer and an old merc outboard. Can be difficult to judge in these glued together units.

 

[nomochevys]

Had a bad one in a Stihl that was just a few months old so it does happen. It was made in Mexico by the way.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I've never had a bad one, but last fall, I came across three B&S engines in a row with bad coils. In all cases, the replacement coil was more than the owner wanted to spend, so they junked it and bought a new $100 Walmart special.