Ask The Editors: Quitting But Not Restarting
We need to know if this is happening.
If, as you say, the battery checks out and the starter is spinning but the machine not starting, the first thing you need to do is yank the spark plug, leave it connected to the wire and turn it over to determine whether or not it’s making spark.
If it is, you can rule out a majority of the commonly failing electrical components right off the top. If it were a faulty starter like it initially sounded, the machine wouldn’t be turning over.
If you aren’t getting spark (or getting weak spark like we suspect), it is time to grab the multi-meter and begin checking each electrical run beginning at the battery and working your way forward. No spark could mean anything from a faulty ground, a blown CDI box to a bad plug.
It’s impossible to accurately diagnose from here without determining which of 3 critical elements is missing from the combustion equation: air, fuel or spark.
