I have a Craftsman riding lawn mower with a B&S Model 31P777, type 0348-E1 engine that won't run. I was using it last weekend and it was running fine and then all of the sudden it died on me. I thought it was low fuel, because I was on an incline and it looked like the fuel level was low. So I filled it back up and tried to start it. It would turnover, but not start. So I pulled the plug, it looked bad, so I went and bought a new plug and checked it for spark by grounding it to the cyclinder. I didn't get a spark.

I checked all the wires (just in case a safety circuit was tripped) and I couldn't find any that were disconnected or worn.

What should I check next?

Thanks,
Brian

No spark, its one of two things, coil or safety switch,if you can find the wire coming from the coil which will be underneath or coming from underneath flywheel cover on one side or the other of the engine ususally black in color, sometimes going into another coupling of wires and disconnect it, then spin engine and check for spark, if sparks you have good coil and problem is in safety switch, but if no spark then a bad coil.More info below.



http://news.smallenginetrblshtng.com (http://news.smallenginetrblshtng.com)

Yeah, try it without the kill wire on the coil... if no spark then, well... then the coil itself sounds bad. They can fail without warning, or give a warning (cut off when they get hot till they cool back down)

Thanks guys...I'll give the coil a try. I wasn't having any problems with it cutting out when it was getting hot, so this would be one of those without warning types. I'll let you know what I find.

Thanks again

It was the coil.