1996 Johnson 8HP WONT START! - Any ideas would be helpful!

Hey guys.

My 1996 Johnson 8hp motor was acting odd (felt like no power when going forward).

I talked with some people who suggested it may be the coil pack. Kepp in mind - the engine was starting up - just felt like no power.

I replaced the coil pack with an authentic johnson part (matched part numbers too!).

Now the engine simply doesn't start!

I checked that the wires were pressed all the way down on both the coil pack and the spark plugs.

These are NEW plugs that work.

So I tested the compression - solid 110 110 - so THAT is good news (unless it's supposed to be higher heh).

Anything else tp check for? Could I just have a bad coil pack? I had to order this one - and wait for shipping - so I would rather not return it until I can know if it is bad or not.

PS - I do not have a spark tester - are they cheap?

You can get a spark tester at most parts houses for around $8.00. When you say coil pack, what do you mean ?? Power pack ??

Sorry if I called it the wrong thing - I replaced the part that the spark plug wires plug into. It has 4 terminals. 2 for the small wires from the power pack (cdi?) and 2 for the spark plug wires.

Usually the coils don't go bad where the power pack will. Go to cdielectronics.com for trouble shooting procedures.

Thank you for the valuable technical document! My problem is that I do not have an electrical tester to test all the various ohms etc. that the trouble shooting calls for. Nor do I want to pay for someone to do it. Heck, it's easier for me to replace the entire power pack than pay for someone else to check the electronics.

That's your choice but it can get into $$$$$ by guessing.

In that you are correct. I have played the guessing game before - and it can be very expensive. However, when I removed the coil pack, I noticed that the old one had cracks in the rubber/sealant and black marks around the metal. So it seemed that it was time for a replacement even if it worked. I feel that the power pack may be showing similar signs of wear given that it is the same age. And I can keep the originals as back up parts should they not be the actual solution to the problem!

Just wanted to mark this as SOLVED. It was the power pack. Or perhaps a combo of the two. But now I have a new coil pack and a new power pack - hopefully that will be it for another 20 years!