69 Johnson 115

" Earlier this year I had the

" Earlier this year I had the motor checked by a mechanic. He told me he was having a problem getting the motor to fire because of intermitten spark. He said he was checking different things out and it started working. I had no problem with it all season. I took it out in Nov and couldn't get it started, it cranked and cranked only popped a time or two. I pulled the plugs and found one broken. Thinking all I needed was a new one I replaced the plugs. I wanted to go on 10 Jan and couldn't get her to fire. I'm not sure if having a plug pulled but connected to the plug wire and turning over the engine to see the arc is the right way to check. I noticed a crack in what I think is the coil. Could that cause the problem or is it something else. How can I trouble shoot the problem? Appreciate any advice!! "

The ignition system on those

The ignition system on those engines is a bit of a nightmare. Check and clean the rotor and venthousing and replace the anti reversing spring.You must have a battery that is in a-one condition. Check the wiring at the solenoid that feeds back to the controls and replace the eye on the smaller red wire.Check that the boots on the wires at the vent housing are in good condition and no spark is jumping to ground there.

" Sparky,

1st, thanks for t

" Sparky,

1st, thanks for the response! When you talk about the rotor and venthousing; where do I find that? I believe it's under the fly wheel am I correct? What does the anti reverse spring look like? I will check each cell on the battery. Are you talking about the starter solenoid? I should just replace the plug wires. How do they disconnect, just pull off or what? I don't think the previous owner did any maintenance. "

" The plug wires screw into th

" The plug wires screw into the vent housing (Distributor cap ), the vent housing is expensive to buy new.The anti reversing spring fits around the crankshaft under the flywheel . The spring shuts the engine down should it attempt to run in reverse. Yes the engine will reverse rotation under certain conditions.I was talking about the starter solenoid. "

" Sparky,

Got it, I'll

" Sparky,

Got it, I'll check that! Thanks

Jay "

"Someone at OMC, some time bac

"Someone at OMC, some time back, made an error in the parts books pertaining to the 1971/72 etc V/4 etc engines that had the distributor cap under the flywheel. They listed the distributor cap as a "Vent Housing". The vent housing is actually that small round white screen that is attached to the side of the distributor cap. No big deal, just though you might like to know about that.

Joe "

" Ok, I have the flywheel off.

" Ok, I have the flywheel off. The distributor is corroded along with the rotor, the vents don't look too bad, I can clean them. I still can't identify the anti-reverse spring. Whats left inside around the crank has two wires one of which goes down inside. It looks like all will come off except the one wire.

I didn't see any spark jumping from the plug wires, I'm going to replace them anyway. The flywheel picked up a small washer in it when I pulled it off. Can I use steel wool to clean the inside of it and the distributor. The coil has a small crack in it and I have a new one on the way. Anything else I should look for? "