89 Johnson GT 200 cutting out at 4500 RPM (J200STLCEB)

i had no issues with my motor until one Monday afternoon. i was cruising around at something like 3500 rpm and i looked down at my gauges and seen my volt meter putting out 17-18 volts. so i shut it down and took my cover off and the stator was pretty warm as expected. i sprayed some contact cleaner on it because i knew it would reduce the temp quickly (heat is a stator's enemy), any way i waited like 15 min and tried to run it again but quickly realized that it was doing it again at any throttle setting above idle. sprayed it down again and began trolling and fishing my way back to the dock. some 3 hours later i started the engine again and being very cautious i idled around and throttled up and down observing that it wasn't doing it anymore. i even went WOT (5300 rpm) with nothing more than 14 volts. got home and did some research and ordered a new CDI regulator/ rectifier so the problem wouldn't return when i wasn't giving my volt meter 100% attention. shortly after replacement i went to the lake and was doing just great at every throttle setting below 4500 RPM. at 4500 RPM it was like ignition was non-existent. cutting out hard core. from dead stop to wide open until the engine caught up to 4500 it was performing great. i never had this issue before the regulator replacement. i cant really find any information in the manual about it. haven't read much about this either. i'm wondering if the voltage regulator/rectifier has any influence in the rpm. i use my boat fairly frequently so i doubt its the fuel, new fuel filter, and i replaced all fuel lines this past winter, i clean my carbs monthly (crazy right). but i know that oil in carbs can get gummed up. no reed issues. spark all passes 7/16" gaps. compression is not new but it ain't terrible either (80ish all cylinders). i do know that stator leakage/melting isn't good either, however it kinda was leaking/melting when i bought it. regardless it still worked, even the tach. the melting hasn't gotten worse since ive owned it. i did perform ohm checks per the manual with no defects noted. one of my coil packs secondary winding has 330 ohms of resistance compared to 260 ohms on all the other coils. bought a new coil and it has 330 ohms. guess thats ok?

The water cooled voltage regulator/rectifier has nothing to do with the ignition unless you attached one of its wires incorrectly... which I assume is unlikely. It would be more likely that either some other area was accidently distrubed while replacing that unit... OR... that melting stator is in the process of gasping its last breath.

The two large coils at the rear portion of that stator provides approximately 300 AC volts to the powerpack's capacitor. The meltdown of either of those large black coils results in a voltage drop to the powerpack which in turn results in weak, erratic, and eventually no ignition. Whether this failing stator is the cause of your problem or not... if it has indeed been melting down, I strongly suggest you replace it.

Spraying contact cleaner is really not the way to go.

a fellow forum user sent me a stash of useful information on trouble shooting a ignition problem. I'm going to radio shack today!

i know that using contact cleaner to cool it off wasn't the way to go, but it was that or water, and water wasn't going to happen. I'm hoping that my stator holds in there for a few more years. but with the information i got might make me change it. $$$.$$ please. I'm going to check those voltages asap

Did some reading from a CDI Troubleshooting guide and i seen this statement. Has me thinking... Went and inspected my wire routing and sure enough my tan wire was right next to the spark plug wires coming through the small access hole on the side of the power pack assy. re-routed and now I'm destined for a trip to the lake (as if i wasn't going anyway, haha)

Routing my over temp switch wiring away from my primary (low voltage high amperage) spark plug wires fixed it. so happy my stator (might) make it another season. time to keep my eye out for a good healthy used one.