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9.9 eska sears gamefisher won't start with external capacitor pack! But has good spark!

weska99

New member
I traded for this 1978-79 Sears Eska 9.9 gamefisher about 5yrs ago. It was a real strong engine and started easy. Then one day we tried to start it and nothing. I'm pretty knowlegeable about small engines and determined there was no spark on the top cylinder. After, alot of reseach and reading forums I found out they don't make the stators for this model and if I wanted a rebuilt one I would have to shell out 250 dollars and send them mine to repair or something like that! I thought to myself "That was high and about what the outboard was worth!" That was about 4yrs ago and it sat around collecting dust and taking up space untill just about 1yr ago! I decided to see if I could find a new stator on the net or any Ideas how to fix it, or tear it down and sell for parts to get back alittle for my trade. I figured there might be a rebuild that i could do or a external CDI unit i could attach to get a spark again for cheaper than 250.. After searching awhile found out there was a cdi kit from altronics that you could buy, or u can purchase each part from another electronics store like digitkey with the parts list they gave you for cheaper. So i bought all the parts to make the circut responsible for generating the spark. After getting the parts in the mail for about 15 dollars i decided it was going to be alot of work that i wasnt really wanting to do. I thought there must be a better way with fewer parts! Thats when I found that a capacitor and a diode are the two main parts that fail in these older eska's. The article talked about how the gasoline was not as powerfull back then as todays higher octanes and they run hotter with todays fuels which could be why the engine cooks these parts! It went on to show how to remove the insulation over the cdis on the timing plate and solder in wires from the triggers to a small external pack containing the capacitor & diode. It also said showed how to solder a jumper over the old capacitor & diode and replace the cdi insulation with a heat resistant silicone. This seemed the perfect thing to try and I already had the two parts I needed. So I did the surgery on the cdi's and what do you know i have spark nice and blue on both plugs. The crazy thing is that it still doesn't start! It has let off a big bang like a shot gun going off kinda like a back fire but its only done that a couple of times. I've tried gas in the spark plug holes and starting fluid but no luck! I thought it might be a timing issue with when it's suppose to fire for each cylinder but don't really know how to make sure without the operation manual they say tells ya! Anyone know how to get it close manually? I was thinking it maybe a weak spark? But, it looks like its plenty! Anyone with any other ideas im all for it or it's parts will be on ebay shortly! Thanks. Wesley
 
Hello Wesley, best bet on the eyeball timing is to use the witness marks from the original setup,, that is if you can see them.
Now .... to correct this information a bit, the diode is the last part to ever fail on this SSI, the top 2 culprits are the C1 and SCR and the 3rd buggery issue is the air gap between the modules and trigger sleeve,, these parts wear and increase the air gap and can simulate a bad SCR, the web site you may have read has destroyed more than one working Eska CDI, these CDI's require regular maintenance to the trigger sleeve and adjustment of the modules and long vacations are bad for connections buried glue
If you want to PM I may be able to help you more and share more information, most of what you have already learned was on my dime anyway LOL
 
Hello Wesley, best bet on the eyeball timing is to use the witness marks from the original setup,, that is if you can see them.
Now .... to correct this information a bit, the diode is the last part to ever fail on this SSI, the top 2 culprits are the C1 and SCR and the 3rd buggery issue is the air gap between the modules and trigger sleeve,, these parts wear and increase the air gap and can simulate a bad SCR, the web site you may have read has destroyed more than one working Eska CDI, these CDI's require regular maintenance to the trigger sleeve and adjustment of the modules and long vacations are bad for connections buried glue
If you want to PM I may be able to help you more and share more information, most of what you have already learned was on my dime anyway LOL

wow, I can't believe it started with everything i did. Amazing how i fixed it, a drill and a 3\4 in socked and a cut off 3\8 long extension will save you on pulling your arm off to knock the dust out of the carburator . The drill did all the work and turned the **** of that thing and little by little it started easier and now it pull starts so easy and runs great! the external capacitor and diode i installed. did the trick and i did it all myself with some help from I think the site was some guy named Ed Toole. I'm not sure ill have to find it. He was right that those parts go bad. Any one need help I can walk you thru the fix..
 
Oh I see,, your selling snake oil for Ed Stoller. the spinning of the flywheel gives it away pal,,,, that's dangerous stuff to post online and I discourage it 100%
 
What the heck are you talking about! I've been working on this engine for years now and finally yesterday it started! I don't know who the bleep is Ed Stoller and futher more don't give a flying crap! All i care about is that this piece of crap engine gave out on me almost 6yrs ago and now it's running like new! I did all the research, hardwork, and put in the hrs, to accomplish something that my family can enjoy this summer! You sir are a hypocrite and you shouldn't be giving info on any forms anywhere. It sounds like you didn't even read my first ever post about this engine on here. I'm pretty smart when it comes to working with small engines, and you sir had some of the parts right i'll give that to you, but this whole thing being your idea i think not nor do i care. I'm just glade someone put that info out there because it saved me hundreds of dollars and now i have a beautiful working 9.9 that i'm so going to enjoy even more because of you! Well enough of you i got to go to work and live another day so go take your snake oil and buried glue that you probably huff because if you were as smart as who ever made that site then you wouldn't be using phrases like that. Oh yea the drill actually got it started and none of what u said made much sense in helping me complete this................Don't worry i really dont need this site anymore or to hear any @#&# from you.. I'm going fishing..
 
Just so every one who reads this understands, my opposition to solid state Snake oil comes from my direct involvement with the development of the Eska twin & single SSI repair, which was developed by the membership of the now closed Eska yahoo group which I own.
The serious issues starts with the depotting of the epoxy molded modules using heat or a dremel cutter,, THIS IS A EXTREME HEALTH Hazard!!
Now as to a depotted charged high voltage circuit containing in the original configuration a possible 250v+ and in the modified configuration as promoted to 630v, this is enough to stop a pace maker in its tracks and KILL YOU! or at the least shock the living day lights out of you and leave a nasty burn.
Once depotted any charge induced by the charge coil from previous cranking attempts will be built up in the C1 capacitor and can be left un discharge by a bad or weak SCR or ungrounded high tension lead and can be released into your body by a finger or thumb contacting the low tension lead and the circuit trace connected to the C1, the danger grows exponentially with the suggested modification using 1 uf 630v cap, Not to mention the ridicules practice of spinning the flywheel with a drill as has been promoted in this thread. Many have loosened their flywheel nut without knowing and suffered the results. This is why I closed the Eska yahoo group and dismissed the SSI repair information, I do not want to be responsible for a death or law suit.
Now to the point...
In this example above this fellow went through a exercise in futility and by clear example of having to spin up his flywheel with a drill to make even his new capacitor and diode release down stream I suggest and do believe 100% that his problem was not the capacitor and diode but in all probability was the weak SCR and maybe in combination with a slightly shorted C1 which by its very nature is self healing.

the first step to wake a sleeping Eska SSI is cleaning the connections on the module. the 2nd step is adjusting the air gap between the trigger sleeve and module to .05 at each side of the trigger sleeves polls on both modules, a this point install the flywheel per spec. then remove the spark plugs and attach spark testers or at least ground both high tension leads. This need to be done to remove compression from the cylinders so that a higher cranking speed can be achieved, and then crank the hell out it for a hour or until spark returns, at this point the C1 short has heal its self as designed.
If a "No spark" situation is still present you have a bad SCR and a new CDI Inc Eska twin stator can be purchased from www.marineengines.com

This fellows problems will re appear, next week, next month or next year ??I don't know exactly when but I guaranty it will fail.... ;) BTDT
 
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