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secondary spark coming out of spark plug wire

bruce728

New member
I have been trying for several days to trouble shoot my engine problem. I have a 1996 70 johnson. It will only run when the high speed idle arm is up. It also sounds as if it is not running on all cylinders. I rebuilt the carbs recently, rechecked the floats, and replaced all the old gas lines.
I did a spark check, and noticed a second spark coming out from under the wire on the lowest plug. I also noticed this plug letting off smoke when the engine is running. In addition, I bought new spark plugs, and this plug is already fowled. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions?
 
That spark plug is not firing since the spark is going to the engine block; which means the cylinder is dead and you will need to get a new wire for it. It will need to be a solid core wire not an automotive wire.
 
I have no idea what the compression is. I have to way of checking w/o taking it to a mechanic and dropping $95.00.

You can pick up a cheap compression gauge at K-Mart, Wal*Mart, Auto part stores, etc for less than $10 and check the compression yourself. It doesn't take rocket science mentality.

Remove all spark plugs, stick the rubber tip of the gauge into the plug holes, use a small jumper wire (or a mechanics button switch) to jump from the battery terminal of the starter solenoid to the small 3/8" nut terminal of the solenoid that engages the solenoid to crank the engine over... that's it. Something you should do occasionally as a preventative maintenance procedure. That's it!
 
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