Rob Gulley
New member
The other day I started the motor up in the driveway just fine and it ran for a few minutes. I turned it off to adjust something and when I started again it just turned over. I confirmed that it had fuel.
I suspected there was no spark. I eliminated the usual suspects like bad kill switch, ignition, battery, or bad wiring in the remote control box. 2 days of agony later, I'm following a repair manual to check for spark. It said to, among other options, pull the plug wire and put an old spark plug in the boot and turn the ignition on and look for spark. It cautioned to use a grip tool with a rubber grip/handles to hold the plug wire, which I did.
So I'm standing next to my OB with the cowl off, spark plug and boot #2 (of 3) in my channel locks in my right hand, a few inches away from the block. My left hand is turning the key on the remote control box. The engine starts to crank and for a few seconds it's the same old nothing. Then I start to get what feels like a shock in my lower left back, the only part of me which is lightly touching a corner of the transom of the hull. Suddenly, I see a spark on plug #2 and the engine fires up! Which was pretty impressive for running on only two cylinders! It died after a few seconds but I've been able to ignite the engine reliably since then.
So, what the hell did I do?!
I'm glad it's fixed but am annoyed that I don't understand it at all. I thought aluminum didn't conduct electricity. Did I just imagine being shocked?
I suspected there was no spark. I eliminated the usual suspects like bad kill switch, ignition, battery, or bad wiring in the remote control box. 2 days of agony later, I'm following a repair manual to check for spark. It said to, among other options, pull the plug wire and put an old spark plug in the boot and turn the ignition on and look for spark. It cautioned to use a grip tool with a rubber grip/handles to hold the plug wire, which I did.
So I'm standing next to my OB with the cowl off, spark plug and boot #2 (of 3) in my channel locks in my right hand, a few inches away from the block. My left hand is turning the key on the remote control box. The engine starts to crank and for a few seconds it's the same old nothing. Then I start to get what feels like a shock in my lower left back, the only part of me which is lightly touching a corner of the transom of the hull. Suddenly, I see a spark on plug #2 and the engine fires up! Which was pretty impressive for running on only two cylinders! It died after a few seconds but I've been able to ignite the engine reliably since then.
So, what the hell did I do?!
I'm glad it's fixed but am annoyed that I don't understand it at all. I thought aluminum didn't conduct electricity. Did I just imagine being shocked?