startup after cold winter.

[overall gardener]

Good morning!
I have a 1951 Cub. Its awesome and i used it all last year. It has sat in the weather since late fall and now it wont start. I've purchased a new battery and it turned over and sputtered a bit then quit.

Now it wont turn over at all. the battery has a good charge on it. I've tried the manual crank and it acts like no spark.

Any ideas? If I should check the ignition please include a wire diagram as i have none.

Thanks much!

[tmays]

Battery ignition or mag? If battery, not turning over could likely mean there’s not enough juice to the coil. Start at the battery and remove and clean all connections and do the same at the starter.

[Mike in Louisiana]

Clean the points after you clean the battery and starter terminals.

[Jim Becker]

Be sure to clean up the battery ground connections. If the ground cable is still (as original) attached to the battery box, make sure the box is well grounded or move the cable to a bolt on the transmission housing.

[Eugene]

Wiring diagrams are in the Operator's Manual, upper left of this page, Quick links.

After tmays' suggestion. Voltage drop test at battery to see if battery is good. Container of deicer/water remover to fuel tank - fresh gasoline - drain a bit of fuel from bottom of carburetor.

Still sputters - starting fluid. Still no start compression tests - stuck valves.

[staninlowerAL]

Welcome to the forum. One more post and you can access/download from the manuals tab as Eugene said in the above post. Post back with your findings after you go through the suggestions provided. Stan

[overall gardener]

Thank you all. great ideas. will work through them after work and let you know what i find and who wins the cupie doll for guessing the problem!

[NJ Farmer]

If you have a battery ignition Check to see if you have power (simple test light) at the distributor where the wire attaches and the see if you have power (test light) at the negative post on the ignition coil. The ignition switch must be pull out to see if you have power. I am leaning towards dirty points, rotor, no power going to the distributor. If the points are corroded you will not get spark because of the loss of electrical flow during points closing. I think the gap is .020 but check the book.

NJ Farmer

[staninlowerAL]

If you have a battery ignition Check to see if you have power (simple test light) at the distributor where the wire attaches and the see if you have power (test light) at the negative post on the ignition coil. The ignition switch must be pull out to see if you have power. I am leaning towards dirty points, rotor, no power going to the distributor. If the points are corroded you will not get spark because of the loss of electrical flow during points closing. I think the gap is .020 but check the book.

NJ Farmer

Yup, points gap is .020 for battery ignition, .013 for magneto.

[Matt Kirsch]

Just to be clear so everyone is chasing the right path to a solution, what do you mean by "won't turn over?"

Do you mean the engine cranks and won't start, OR the engine won't even crank?

"Won't turn over" is often misused. It really means that you turn the key or push the button, and you get a click, or nothing at all. If the engine is cranking, it is "turning over."

If the engine was cranking then suddenly will not crank, it is most often caused by bad battery connections. Take all the large battery cable connections apart and clean them thoroughly with a wire brush.

[Jim Becker]

Unfortunately, "crank" is just as misused as "turn over". They both should mean that when you hit the starter switch the engine goes RUH-RUH-RUH-RUH-RUH-RUH but doesn't go VROOM.