Johnson 90hp ruined my vacation any ideas

"Well, had 5 days off from wor

"Well, had 5 days off from work - Thurs to Mon - so I headed down to the Keys and stayed w/ my parents which were already there. Friday we take the boat out and do a little fishing - moved a few times, etc and the motor ran great. Then around lunch time we decide to head back to camp and the motor won't start. It turns over and is getting fuel, but no spark. Luckily a couple drove by and was kind enough to tow us in.

It's a 98 Johnson J90ELECM. It was fully rebuilt a few months ago - almost everything mechanical is new. I've since replaced the entire VRO system/pump & regulator/rectifier. So basically the stator, optical sensor, coils & power pack is all that is left. I forgot my factory manual at home (only thing I forgot unfortunately), so I didn't know where to start for troubleshooting. I tried again & again at camp, but it wasn't even trying to fire - clearly evident no spark b/c it didn't cough, etc. Out of frustration I decided to head home that night (8hr drive). It didn't start Sat afternoon when I tried....at first. Then about 5 min later I tried again and it actually tried to start. "Holy $h*t!!!" I thought. Anyway, after a few cranks it eventually fired up. Didn't mess w/ it after that or yesterday, but just went back out to try again and it fired up again.

Honestly though, I'm relieved, but also worried to take it back out again. What would have caused this? Why now and not then?? I'm ruling out coils b/c I think it's unlikely they'd both go and it was an evident "no spark" across all 4. It runs great, so I don't think it's timing or the optical. Which leaves me to think power pack - would it cause this - total cut of ALL spark??

EDIT: - Almost forgot - I had tach issues when I first bought it and had initially replaced the tach to no avail. Well, after new regulator/rectifier, the tach worked as it should. Two weeks ago though, the tach started acting up again - gets to 1500rpm and then stops. I'm thinking this all could be related - is it possible that my 2 month old regulator/rectifier is bad??"

"i would bet,..on the stator..

"i would bet,..on the stator...gets hot,wont wk,cools down,and wks..sometimes....yes,it is poss ur reg/rect is out."

"u should ck for,but rare,...a

"u should ck for,but rare,...a loose timer wheel,or loose optical sensor...ck the conns to both....ck any kill sw u have installed."

"JWB - interesting you mention

"JWB - interesting you mention the kill switch. The factory ignition has one, but I have no idea how it works - just simply clips onto the ignition (doesn't force the key area "out" or clip "in between" two areas like some do). I say I don't know how it works b/c the previous owner said he never used it, so I never have either. I've used the boat probably 50 times since I bought it and it's always started w/ the exception of this time.

Sooooo, I clipped it on when I got home and that's when it started. It could be purely coincidental though b/c A) I started it right afterward w/out the clip & B) If I pull the clip off, it doesn't kill the motor - which is another reason why I have no idea how this thing is suppose to work.

I am thinking of buying a new ignition b/c it's only $50 and hopefully that one will kill like it should - mainly for a safety standpoint if I'm boating solo (knew a guy that drowned by falling off when offshore solo), but also by the slim chance it might also be the cause of my issue"

does that engine have a 3 wire

does that engine have a 3 wire rectifier or does it have a regulator?the rectifier only engine will have a round rectifier mounted on the starboard side of the engine close to the terminal strip..if it has just a rectifier then the tach problem and the no fire problem are 2 different issues..under the cowl you should have a black/green wire hooked to your power packs...this is going to the kill switch...you should have a one to one wire connection from that wire to a slide in connector..the other wire goes to the kill switch...disconnect that wire with a failure and see if the engine fires..it should if the problem is in the kill switch circuit..replace thhe assembly if it fires...look under the flywheel and see if the stator has gotten hot enough to melt and drip the covering material down onto anything..if so you got a bad stator..prolly 250 bucks or so..you also have a connector between the stator and the power packs...a little round push together connector..make sure you dont have a pin pushed back..i have had that problem from the factory and the pins will butt tip to tip instead of sliding together and show up years later and be intermittent..i agree with J.W. that its prolly a stator....they do get intermittent but it will leave you with a solid permanent failure sooner rather than later..a stator will give you some warning its going out modst of the time..a hard start after you have run it and killed it for a short period of time or something like that..but you wont get too many warnings..

it has a reg/rect........

it has a reg/rect........

on the tach issue....what does

on the tach issue....what does your meter read when doing 4k rpms?if its a rectifier engine then a high reading is a known problem with these engines..the tach will give false readings and bounce around etc is the first indication...eventually the rectifier will completely fail...this rectifier is fed by a completely(electical) winding from the ignition winding..you do not need this circuit to work in order to run this engine...but it still has to be fixed because it will generate excessive heat in the stator and damage the run coil..and you get the failure that you have..shot stator...this excessive voltage and tach failure is normally cause by replacing the battery with a higher rated battery than the specs call for..have you put a new battery in the boat this year?if so look at the rating and swap it out with an older or smaller battery just to see..another thing you can do is put more load on the battery...running lights and anything else you got..a 12volt cooler or something..do not use a gel or a sealed battery on this engine if its a non regulated rectifier charging system..

ok J.W. then i will back out a

ok J.W. then i will back out and leave it with you...i dont have books or anything with me at the moment..i agree..either kill switch or stator...didnt mean to interfere...you do a fabulous job in here btw..

it has a reg/rect........

it has a reg/rect........

"i'm just killing time---a

"i'm just killing time---and try to help....since i live by myself,...i have quite alot of time,to chat w/u fellers!"

"Well, as an update, I replace

"Well, as an update, I replaced the kill switch and the motor starts, but stalled several times when I took it back out.

At first I thought it was just b/c it was low tide and leaving the boat ramp is shallow (2' sometimes less), but my boat draws 11" and I had the motor trimmed. Must've stalled 6 times in a few minutes getting through that area. Always cranked right back up though. Then once I was in the channel, I got on plane and was running about 30mph (roughly 4500rpm but once again, tach stops at 1500) and was running for about 3min and it started sputtering, so I cut back throttle and then it stalled. I started it back up and put it back on the trailer (no more stalling entire time back though).

Still sound like stator? I'm in the process of checking it out. I have flywheel cover off and bolts out of the flywheel, but have to get a puller to remove that."

"A faulty kill switch of the t

"A faulty kill switch of the type you described, can lead to any number of problems.

Aside from not killing the ignition, you could just as easily have a short or some arcing going on in the ignition switch. Obviously that could affect many things.

The tach problem suggests the charging circuit has a problem. A good rule of thumb in my opinion is to replace the stator and regulator or rectifier at the same time."

"Well, I pulled the stator tod

"Well, I pulled the stator today and there was some melting on the underside of it. I have a used spare and am reluctant to put it in, but I don't want to spend the money on a new one yet - just spent $250 on some new tools, thermostats & bolts for the motor earlier today. I guess I'll find out if it works in a few days once it's all back together."