Hi all, im new to the site and have a question. I have a billy goat yard de-thatcher with a 5 h.p. honda engine. I went to start it the other day and I noticed I had no spark. I narrowed it down to the stop switch. When I un-hook it I get spark but when its hooked up theres none. So I got a new one but it doesnt have the same wire as the old one. The old one had a two wire config. one of the wires from the switch hooked into the case and the other hooked to the coil, I think. The new one only has one wire so I cut and spliced it onto the old one and I still have no spark with the switch hooked up. My question is, is there a difference between the two switches? Do I need one just like the old ( with two wires) or is there something else wrong with the motor? ie coils, points.

Dutch

You need the 2 wire switch. you say you have spark when you unhook the switch so that would rule out the coil

The switch is just the basic open/close. When you turn the engine off you short out the electrical system causing the motor to die. With the 1 wire switch the housing for the switch acts as the ground to the frame. The 2 wire switch just means one wire to frame to ground out and one to the engine.

Yeah I got it to work today, it was the oil level sensor, that the stopswitch plugs into. I didnt have enough oil in the motor :freak:
Thanks for all your help. Dutch