My Honda Express Won't Get Spark

I ended up buying a Honda Express 2 from a garage sale. The guy said it didn't run but it was something electrical wrong with it. I now got it home put a battery in and am getting a spark plug but I think it is the ignition coil… Any thoughts?

Spend 5 minutes learning to use a multimeter.

It could be anything from having the safety switch off, ignition switchbad, or other simple problem to a major electrical issue.

Check the fuse.
Check to be SURE it's on "run".
Get a volt meter, and start digging.

I vote for the ignition coil. But I'm not good with electrical stuff. So if it's not something basic, then off to the dealer repair shop it goes.

The CDi unit that produces the spark in place of points and condenser has probably failed. You need a volt meter to determine whether this is the case, but before you do that try another spark plug and HT lead.

First of all make sure the kill switch is not causing the problem, sometimes you can turn the switch several times from left to right and then back to run and then check for spark? If no spark then tell me the year because I'm not sure if it has Cdi ignition or points, If it has points it is very rare that the coils go bad. Make sure you check all wires first and check for any blown fuses. Take the shiny chrome round cover or black painted off the right side of the engine and you'll see a set of points and condenser behind the flywheel, in most cases there's just enough room to get a piece of sandpaper in between the contacts to sand them and possibly feeler gauge them as well with out taking off the flywheel. If you can't figure a way to get in there to do that then you will have to take the nut off the flywheel. Doing this with a impact wrench is very easy, without an impact wrench you will have to remove spark plug and turn the engine over until piston is at bottom of cylinder and take a piece of nylon rope about 1/4 inch in diameter about two foot long and string it into cylinder until it stops or you think that there's enough in the cylinder to be compressed but leave at least a couple inches hanging out with a not so you don't lose it into the cylinder. Now turn the engine counterclockwise with the proper socket and now the rope will be compressed against the head giving you the ability to get the nut off of the crank so you can remove the flywheel, now take the rope out of the cylinder so you can perform the next steps and only put it back in when your ready to reassemble the flywheel. Look around to make sure there's no rusted magnets or broken burned wires, then turn the engine over either by the foot crank or by the nut but be careful not to put too much pressure on the nut turning clockwise. Put the cam lobe on the points at it's highest point with points fully open and check for nice clean flat surface between the contacts, if they look burned or dirty corroded, take a piece of sandpaper and slide it in between the points and sand the top contact and then sand the bottom contact. Then check the gap with a feeler gauge to see if it's at between 0.014 and 0.016 thousands of an inch. If you do not have a feeler gauge you could use a matchbook cover from a set of paper matches that is about the same thickness. Remember to only use the cover not the match. Make sure you check the magnets for rust in the flywheel and on the magneto, these are the little metal half moon circle looking devices with wires coming from them bolted on each side of the crankshaft and they fit inside the flywheel that has a small gap in between that the magnets pass in revolution when running to help send the electricity through the system for the spark and the charging system. Now put a little sewing machine or real light oil on the little felt tab that runs along the cam lobe that keeps the points rubbing block from wearing down too fast. Now put the flywheel back on with the nut and tighten firmly but not too tight but tight enough so you can check for spark and ground out the plug to see if it has spark, if it has spark now reverse the directions and put it back together not forgetting to put the rope back in the cylinder and tightening the flywheel nut tighter but do not over tighten, tighten 25-29 foot lbs on your torque wrench. Pull the rope out not forgetting to back off the pressure by turning the flywheel back just a little so you can pull the rope out. Hope this helps and if not please keep asking and we'll help you figure it out. Take care and Good luck
Robb In Tampa Fl.