JLO 297 intermittent spark

[elwesso]

Hi everyone,

Great website here, I have spent the better part of the day reading previous posts about the JLO engines while I was waiting for my account to be verified.. Great info!

I am new to this forum but not to 6x6. We own 2 original Max ATV's that we bought new in the 70s.. They have been neglected for some time, mainly because they still had the old style balloon tires that were in bad shape..

Recently I decided I wanted to get one of our max's going again, so I got a new set of wheels/tires (converted to 5 lug), rebuilt the tillotson carb, new gas tank, and some other bits..

I got everything installed, and I had the engine running for a little bit.. It fired right up on some carb cleaner, and ran itself on fuel for a while before I shut it off.. Now it seems to have no spark.. When I pull it with the recoil starter, it basically has no spark.. When I use the electric start it has spark but its very intermittent, and its not very strong.

I have been doing some reading on the forum, and it appears that like on any engine with points that they get dirty and need to be looked at. I have the recoil starter, the fan cover and all that stuff off, and I've hit a bottleneck at the flywheel like most people have.. I tried, against the better judgement of everyone on the forums, and tried to use a 3 bolt puller and partially stripped one of the threads for the recoil starter.. Fortunately i did not thread it in all the way so it should still be fine..

I am at a loss on how to best clean the points without taking the flywheel off.. Ive read a bit that not using a proper JLO type puller will usually end up damaging the flywheel, which I am not interested in doing..

The last time I had this machine running was maybe 2-3 years ago, and the engine ran OK..

I'd like to stick with the JLO engine if possible, they seem like decent little engines once they are well sorted, certainly at this point seems like it would be much easier to get all the external bits working than trying to convert to something else.. NOt to mention I'd like to learn more about the JLO's since i have 2nd identical max that I am looking at restoring down the road

[thebuggyman1]

The flywheels are a bit tricky to pull without the special tool. You can make your own.....here is a recent thread http://www.6x6world.com/forums/engin...-flywheel.html The 3 bolts from tool to flywheel are small, don't strip them. Put pressure on them and tap on the center(crank shaft) bolt, retighten the 3 bolts and repeat.
I've seen the genuine Bosch points on Ebay, but they are pricey. I used 01-012 - Bosch (Hirth, JLO, Kohler engines) heavy duty points There are 3 different types, and 2 condensors, sorry but I cant tell you which you need.
Good luck and welcome to the site.

[elwesso]

Thank you for your reply buggyman.. Seeing how the engine ran before, I am skeptical to believe that the points are bad.. I have read that some people are able to clean the points without taking the flywheel off using like an index card or a dollar bill that is slid in between them?? I am curious about the technique on this..

I read that thread on the "tip" and seems that would work well if the engine was out of the machine.. I'd like to avoid that if possible however I am not totally against it..

I have an OEM JLO parts book for this engine, so I am not concerned about tracing down the right parts if I need it..

I am wondering about, I have a 3 leg puller with extra wide lips on the legs.. I am wondering if I could grab onto the back of the flywheel in the holes above where the 3 bolts are for the recoil starter...

[elwesso]

Also, does anyone know what the thread size is for the puller on the inside bore of the flywheel? I am thinking about trying to make my own puller to do this properly.. thanks!

[Robinhood02]

weak and intermitent, ive seen the resistor in the plug do this, and specialy in the 2-stroker , did you try changing the plug ?? pull the plug wire off and put a screwdriver into the wire and hold the screwdriver 1/8th " off of ground ,turn the unit over and see if you have steady "blue" spark, if so change the plug, if not go to points.

[elwesso]

thanks for the info! I will try that for sure! I have not replaced the plug, and it probably would not be a bad idea at all.

[elwesso]

Well Robinhood wins the big prize for today!! to make a long story short, I found an NGK A8 laying around in one of our cabinets, tossed it in, and voila beautiful spark and it started.. I have some other issues which I am starting a new thread about since its unrelated to the ignition system

Against my better judgement, I did not clean the points however I figure it was not hard to get the recoil starter and the fan cover off, so if I need to go in there again it wont be hard.