The saga continues, starter, mag, no spark

[portuncia 0]

I think I am making progress, I have the solenoid working, the switch all figured out but no spark. I found out using a volt/ohm meter that the wire coming from the engine shroud is grounded which would explain the lack of spark, this discovered when checking continuity with the wire removed from the starter switch. Thus my search has led me to the area behind the shroud, upon removing the bolts to the shroud I noticed white fluffy material underneith and remembered people saying mice get behind there and build nests and maybe said mice might have chewed the mag wire insulation to the point that it is grounding out. Does this make sense? Two questions,,,, 1. Am I on the right path? 2. This is a B-112, it appears that I have to pull the motor out to remove the shroud, is this the case? Thanks UCD and everyone else who has helped thus far.

[perry 1]

yep, them darn mice will get in there and chew on what ever they can get to. you'll have to pull the engine and inspect and clean everything under the shround. also check and make sure the head fins are clean so you dont overheat the engine. when i first got my nonrunning landlord their was a mouse nest in the engine, a chipmunk nest in the belly of the tractor, and the head was packed with mud dauber nets.