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1970 60hp Johnson No Spark

H

horsedoc

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"Hi,
I have the 3 cylinder el


"Hi,
I have the 3 cylinder electroshift. There is no spark to any cylinder when turned over with key and no plugs in it. I disconected the main wiring harness and tried to arc the starter selenoid and check for spark but it wouldn't arc so I checked for spark when jumping straight to starter the engine turned over but still no spark. I pulled the flywheel, checked the reverse spring, cleaned and gapped points to .010, used ohm meter to check the points they don't appear to be shorting and appear to work ok, cleaned contact on rotor and reassembled....still no spark. I tried to check for power to the coil. The blue wire on the coil that attaches to the blue wire from the "amplifier" and it did not appear that there was any voltage coming from the "amplifier" to the coil. Any other suggestions or tips? Also why can't I arc the selenoid, also is there a condenser with the points? Do you think the amplifier is bad? What next?

Thank you in advance.
Todd

PS. I cleaned all contacts on the "strip" and have a good battery. I do not recommend the clymer manual."
 
"i'd put all the main wiri

"i'd put all the main wiring harness parts back on, and turn the key to "on". Make sure the throttle is pulled back into the start range. Then using a Jumper wire with alligator tips, you can hook one end to the battery side of the solenid. (Big red cable)
Then Carefully take the now HOT end of the jumper lead and touch it to the second small post on the solenoid. HOld the Motor Still with one hand, because the initial bump will take the HOT wire and knock it into the block or some other "ground" area. Personally i think an ungrounded plug might not spark correctly. ground the threaded part the spark plugs to the block with a jumper wire too. Im not familiar with the "amplifier" style Evinrude/Johnson points ignition components. I have an electroshift 3cyl 65. but it has the solid state ignition. One time i rebuilt a 20 Merc. and got new coils n points, and the damn thing wouldnt start, so i put the old points in and it ran. The marina sold me the wrong points. Hope somebody else gets back to you on the diagnosis. It pays to search the discussion board to see if this question has been answered somewhere else....That how i found nuggets of Wisdom from the Senior members."
 
"Joe Reeves on this site has a

"Joe Reeves on this site has a system for testing the CDI boxes(amplifiers) that utilizes a 12V light bulb and some wires. Jumping across ignition components is not the best way to test these ignition systems because you can short out components and end up doing more damage in the process. Also, there are no condensers on those motors. Those engines utilize Capacitor Discharge Ignition system or CDI for short."
 
"Thanks everyone.
Doug do you


"Thanks everyone.
Doug do you recommend testing the amplifier the way Joe describes? I did this and the bulb did not light not even dim light. Do you consider this jumping across components? I was trying to arc the starter so I could eliminate the switch in the controls and wiring to and from, from the list of possibilities any other ideas.

What about the "safety switch" (under the flywheel on the side above the cylinders which is depressed with rotating of the spark advance/throttle position) could this be an issue?

Also, any ideas about alternatives to replacing the amplifier? Is there anything newer that is an easy, cheaper conversion.
Thanks, Todd"
 
"If you tested that box using

"If you tested that box using Joe's method I would trust the results. As for conversions, there are two possible. One is installing a condenser and balast resistor. The other is using a MSD 6A CDI box to replace the original box. The MSD conversion is a better converion than the condenser because it improves engine performance as well as starting capability. If you want to email me [email protected], I will send you an explanation of how to do the MSD ignition."
 
"Doug,
Thank you for the tips


"Doug,
Thank you for the tips, I am trying to find a "loaner' amplifier with some locals to try a swap. If that seems to be the problem you may be getting an email from me regarding the MSD install. Thanks in advance. Todd"
 
"I replaced the amplifier and

"I replaced the amplifier and I have great spark, thanks to all. Todd"
 
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