Chainsaw Repair

The condenser is what is usually bad

Just install a module from Oregon, or I have in the past recylcled Shindaiwa trimmer ignition modules with great success

Primary to ground should be 1 ohm

This can be the points wire or the spade connector on the coil as they are connected together

Secondary  9K ohm

This should be the spark plug wire to ground

There's been many threads written in chainsaw forums about the 031/032 points type ignitions and 9 times out of 10 it is the condenser or capacitor and not the coil.

Be sure you have your ohm meter set on the correct scale?

Resistance is a inverse measurement because it is a measure of "resistance"

The primary winding is the low voltage and will have heavier wire so it will have less resistance like .6 ohm or 1 ohm. This is the points to ground.

The secondary winding is the high voltage and is fine wire with more turns. It will have a high resistance like 8,000 to 10,000  ohms

The key factor here is that neither winding in the coil should have an open circuit.

It would be more likely for the secondary winding to be open circuit because it is smaller wire?

For others reading this that do not have a points type ignition, these figures and statements may not be correct? The reason being that the circuitry involved to eliminate the points will confuse the issue especially on the primary.

With a non points type coil, it almost gets down to either the coil works or it doesn't. This usually amounts to making sure the coil has a very good connection to ground, to remove the switch wire from the coil, and to examine the high voltage spark plug wire very carefully.

Also the newer coils are often RPM limiting types and this involves another secondary winding that is reverse wound as a bucking coil. At higher rpms, it will make enough energy to reduce the spark.