P26 no-spark investigation, flywheel?

[CamMann]

I have an old Pioneer P26 that's been great, but it's beat up as heck and ready for retirement. So I picked up one that looked great all around, but had no spark. I've been going through the process of elimination to the best of my knowledge, and am left thinking it's the flywheel/magneto or a wire coming from behind it. Just wanted to ask ya'll if I missed anything before trying to pull the flywheel. I don't have the right tool for that, and I have had little success in the past with getting flywheels off, so kinda dreading it. Since my beat up P26 has strong spark, I've swapped ignition parts piece by piece as part of the process of elimination. Here's what I've done:

-swapped spark-plug
-cleaned & sanded areas on engine & muffler for good spark-testing contact
-cleaned electrical contacts, confirmed continuity of contacts & wires
-sanded coil points & flywheel's magnetic area
-re-gapped magneto
-swapped coil
-swapped on/off switch
-swapped pulley/starter assembly

None of that helped. One thing I noticed is that the P26 with spark has a wire that the P26 without spark does not have, which ties in between the on/off switch & coil, coming from behind the flywheel. I first attributed this discrepancy to them being slightly different P26 models: one a late 1970s "easy arc" (w/ spark), and the other, a 1981 "electronic" (without spark). But, maybe this wire should be present on both? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks & all the best!
--CamMann

 

[pioneerguy600]

The early model Easy Arc would have a points condenser type ignition, they are located under the flywheel which means the flywheel must be removed to service them. The electronic ignition is all outside the flywheel, just an electronic module that looks like a regular coil works off the signal sent from the magnets in the flywheel.

 

[CamMann]

The early model Easy Arc would have a points condenser type ignition, they are located under the flywheel which means the flywheel must be removed to service them. The electronic ignition is all outside the flywheel, just an electronic module that looks like a regular coil works off the signal sent from the magnets in the flywheel.

Ah, interesting; thanks for the info! So, if the electronic ignition module is malfunctioning, simply swapping it with a coil alone would not have helped? I'd have to also install the points condenser to utilize the coil? Perhaps the crankshaft aswell (I read that the creankshaft has a divot to let the points close each rotation.) Lots to think about that I'd not considered before. I will try to watch some videos on testing the ignition module to see if it is defective. Thanks again.

 

[pioneerguy600]

The electronic module is not a coil per say, it is a coil with a triggering mechanism in it so if you swap in another electronic module it should work. A regular coil needs the points as the triggering device and the condenser to store up the high tension charge to make the spark when triggered.

 

[CamMann]

The electronic module is not a coil per say, it is a coil with a triggering mechanism in it so if you swap in another electronic module it should work. A regular coil needs the points as the triggering device and the condenser to store up the high tension charge to make the spark when triggered.

Found a donor solid-state coil, and it has spark again! Thanks again for the info. So, what if the attempted swap was opposite. Could a point & condenser coil be swapped for a solid state coil without any additional modifications required?

 

[pioneerguy600]

Found a donor solid-state coil, and it has spark again! Thanks again for the info. So, what if the attempted swap was opposite. Could a point & condenser coil be swapped for a solid state coil without any additional modifications required?

For a regular coil, used with points and condenser you would need a saw that can mount points and condenser into it and there has to be a cam on the crank to activate the points. A regular coil used in conjunction with a chip like the one Stihl sells or the more common Nova chip will produce spark for most saws.