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Evinrude 1995 130HP two stroke no spark on 3 cylinders

M

Mirco

Member
Hey guys, I am getting a nice and healthy blue spark on the top-port cylinder, no spark at all on all the other 3 cylinders. The coils and spark plugs are ok (I moved the top port coil - which is defintely working - around, but it does not give a spark anywhere else except on the top port cylinder). This issue has suddenly appeared. I changed to new HT-leads, HT caps AND spark plugs and after that the engine had started behaving erratically, difficult to start. During my first spark test there was a spark only on both top cylinders, and after some more testing and moving coils around and all, I am now in the situation that there is only a spark on the one port-top cylinder no matter what I do. Does this smell like a toasted CDI? If so, how can that so suddenly happen? Can a bad CDI give a spark on ONE cylinder only? Thanx in advance for your ideas
 
Thank you faztbullet - the battery has not been charged for quite a while indeed. Nevertheless, the engine seems to crank reasonably well so I never even thought of that - I will give your input a try.
 
Ok, I recharged the battery, it's healthy and full. Compression has been tested and is fine. So I tried the sparktest again, the results remain the same. Only one healthy spark on the top port cylinder, all others are totally dead. Before I order a new CDI unit, anything else I can try? I'm all out of ideas... Is it indeed at all possible that a bad CDI can give a spark to ONE cylinder only? And how does a CDI actually go bad? At the start of the day no problem, then the two bottom cylinders went out and by the evening another one went out.
 
I will of course let u know what happens. Me and my boat reside in Cyprus :). I just ordered another power pack from the US, it is going to take a while to get here, giving me a chance to do all kind of other maintenance on boat and engine. So, yes, I'll let you know.
I still have the question if it is even possible that a bad CDI could give a spark to ONE cylinder only. And how does one fry a CDI? Or does that just... Happen once in a while?
 
How does it fry? Not often unless the battery cables were reversed OR bad corroded connection causing voltage spikes. The most common way they fail is simple: salt water making it's way through a crack. Before you shell out $250 for a power pack, test the stator and timer base with your peak voltage/dva adaptor. if everything under the flywheel tests fine, before you remove the power pack pop the flywheel off and have a look at the magnets on the inside. if they are ok, replace the pack.
 
Thank you revenge22, will test stator and timer base, & check the magnets, I'll look the procedures up in the manual. The power pack is payed for and on it's way, I certainly hope that it will not fry immediately, too. It would be good to know if there was a reason for that happening in the first place.
 
Mirco said:
Thank you revenge22, will test stator and timer base, & check the magnets, I'll look the procedures up in the manual. The power pack is payed for and on it's way, I certainly hope that it will not fry immediately, too. It would be good to know if there was a reason for that happening in the first place.
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Well i forgot what you wrote but did it fry a pack before? the rectifier can do that if it's no longer regulating voltage properly. you had asked if you can have spark on some cylinders and not others due to the power pack. the answer is a resounding YES! Happens all the time. Since you have a new pack coming, i'd install it 1st then check spark. 50% chance thats your issue. Most places will let you return it if that's not whats going on, and do a partial swap for a stator or timer base. Let me know how it turns out!
 
Thank you for the tips Revenge22 - no, as far as I know it did not fry one before, but I don't have the engine that long. It's just now that I'm "getting in to it". I will be sure to let you know how things turn out!
 
Battery cables reversed will not damage a CDI but will a rectifier. The rectifier cannot damage the CDI but it can damage the stator which can effect the operation of CDI. A bad coil can damage a CDI but not three cylinders at once. The magnets are cast into the flywheel on a V4 Looper and cannot come loose unless a 40 amp kit was installed. Most CDI damage is from stray voltage on blk/yel kill wire from failing key switch or ground at CDI. If you changeg the HT leads and HT ends and motor started acting up the HT wire may have damaged it. Was the wire solid core or resistance type? If resistance the ohm value could be to high and cause a inductive kick back into coil and CDI or the wire itself as the HT ends may have burnt off.
 
faztbullet said:
Battery cables reversed will not damage a CDI but will a rectifier. The rectifier cannot damage the CDI but it can damage the stator which can effect the operation of CDI. A bad coil can damage a CDI but not three cylinders at once. The magnets are cast into the flywheel on a V4 Looper and cannot come loose unless a 40 amp kit was installed. Most CDI damage is from stray voltage on blk/yel kill wire from failing key switch or ground at CDI. If you changeg the HT leads and HT ends and motor started acting up the HT wire may have damaged it. Was the wire solid core or resistance type? If resistance the ohm value could be to high and cause a inductive kick back into coil and CDI or the wire itself as the HT ends may have burnt off.
Click to expand...

Don't know why I wrote the pack could get fried... how could it with no 12v connection. Duh! Anyway i still stand by checking everything with a DVA. Hopefully that pinpoints it for him.
 
Hi guys, here is the follow up: I got the replacement CDI and replaced the old one. To my dissapointment, the engine did not start, not even a little bit, no life at all. So I checked the sparks again with this new CDI, it turns out I am actually getting a spark now on all 4 cylinders, but... it's really, really weak and unregular (sometimes it takes quite a few turns to see a tiny, weaky spark). Before I do any damage to the raplaced CDI, I'd like you opinion again. What could be causing this? The rectifier? I will try to pop the flywheel.
Note: the HT leads are solid core, no resistance, they all measure fine from tip to tip.
 
I would take the starter apart for inspection.-------Why------Because it is easy and costs no money to do so.-----If it cranks too slow you will have starting issues.
 
As Pappy suggested, you could have something "leaking" in to the kill wire (black yellow). The work you did on HT wires and coils is unlikely to have caused the problem unless it caused movement of wires that could have poor continuity because of oxidation at a connection. So try to disconnect the kill wire and see if you get hot spark. Should jump 7/16" with all spark plugs removed and a suitable cranking speed. As Racer mentions, cranking speed is critical on these, especially as spark components age. With all this testing, the starter may be getting tired.
 
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Thank for new ideas to check Faztbullet, Timguy, Racerone, I will let you know the outcome. I'll start with the kill wire.
 
Hi guys, here is the update so far (still not firing). It is not the kill switch circuit, this tested out fine (disconnected the wire, still no real spark). the timer base resistance between the white wire and blue, green, purple and pink reads 43 ohms everywhere (specs say it should be between 38 and 42 ohms, but 1 ohm extra will probably not be the problem). With my home made DVA adapter the DVA output from the timer base from the white wire to blue, green, pink and purple wires all read 2,6 V (should be at least 0,5 V).
And then I checked the voltage between the orange wires at the powerpack while connected tot the iginition coils. I read this to be a steady 20 V on all 4 coils (should be 150 V or more). This probably explains a very weak or no spark. But why am i not getting 150 V or more? Could this be - again - the powerpack, or should I check something else? I have not popped the flywheel yet as I can't seem to find the right tools for that yet (here in Cyprus). I am getting the feeling I am going to need a real mechanic here, but they are also extremely rare (and thus very expensive) around here...
 
Any cheap shops / commercial buildings available to start up in Cyprus ?-------Is it mostly rich folks there who buy new motors , thus no need for a repair shop ?
 
Hi, what you should do is to disconnect the black/yellow, then spin over the motor with your multimeter connected to the end of the black/yellow coming from the controls. DO NOT HAVE IT ON OHMS, but on volts.....try both ac and dc. Look for ANY TRACE of power that could have entered your pack on this wire. That voltage can damage a pack instantly.
 
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Hi Racerone, I am certain that a professional outboard/inboard mechanic would do excellent business here :)!
Timguy and Faztbullet, thanks for new ideas to test, will try these things and get back to you.
 
OK, some new testing results: stator output to pack tests @ around 200 volts (connected at the 2-pin "amphenol" jack coming from the stator). Specs say it should be 175 or higher, so that's ok.
But, Timguy, here goes: I disconnected the BlackYellow wire and connected the multimeter to the end coming from the controls, and it reads 3 Volts, even without cranking the engine. There seems to be always live with 3 Volts. When cranking it drops to 2,4 V. From your comment, I am guessing that we have a problem here, it should be no reading at all, right? And do uou think I just blew 2 powerpacks because of that? Even with such a low voltage?
 
Bingo, brother.....I'm so sorry. You had no way of knowing, it happens but seldom. How much is the pack there? What's your take on it , Pappy? You solved this one...
 
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Disconnect rectifier wires and retest. Sometimes you can read a leak thru diode to ground. If its still there after disconnecting keyswitch has carbon track and need replaced.
Sorry going to be offsite a day or so as need to repair some tornado damage at work as chillers was effected...(Nashville)
 
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Hi Timguy, thanks for the golden tip! I spent a good while trying to find the source of the leaked voltage, also followed faztbullet's advice. Then I opened the control box and cleaned all the connections, used a lot of WD40. The leak after that had dropped to 1,7 V. Then I cleaned the big amphenol connector in the engine compartment, lots of oxidation in the connections there. Used WD40 and cleaned it, connected it, the leak voltage fell to 0 V after this. Checked the sparks of course, I get a strong spark on all 4 cylinders now, but... only at the very first crank/turnover. At each new starting attempt, this repeats: ONE healthy spark, then no more. So, I have sort of a new starting situation now. I will go through all the testing procedures again, and perhaps may have to come to the conclusion that the voltage on the kill switch wire fried two CDI's, and then I will order a new one once again... They are not available in Cyprus, I'll have to have on shipped from the USA. But first, more tests. I'll keep you posted.
 
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