CDI Electronics Outboard Ignition Troubleshooting Guide

65 Johnson/Evinrude Troubleshooting Johnson/Evinrude NO SPARK OR INTERMITTENT SPARK ON ONE BANK or CYLINDERS 1-4 or 5-8: 1. Disconnect BOTH of the Black/Yellow stop wires AT THE POWER PACK(S) and retest. If the engine’s ignition has spark, the stop circuit has a fault. Check the key switch, harness and shift switch. 2. Swap the stator wire pairs from one side of the engine to the other side and see if the problem moves. If it does, the stator is bad. 3. Disconnect the Yellow wires from the stator to the rectifier and retest. If the engine sparks, replace the rectifier. 4. Check the cranking RPM. A cranking speed of less than 250-RPM will not allow the system to spark properly. This is usually caused by a weak battery or dragging starter. Connect a battery charger on its highest setting to the battery and retest. If good spark, replace the starter and/or battery with an 850+ CCA cranking/dual purpose non-maintenance-free type. 5. Check the stator and timer base resistance and DVA output on BOTH banks (see NO SPARK ON ANY CYLINDER above). 6. Check the DVA output on the Orange wires from the power pack while connected to the ignition coils. You should have a reading of at least 150V or more. If the reading is low on one bank, disconnect the Orange wires from the ignition coil for that bank and reconnect them to a load resistor. Retest. If the reading is now good, one or all of the ignition coils are likely bad. A continued low reading indicates a bad power pack. NO SPARK OR INTERMITTENT SPARK ON ONE OR MORE CYLINDERS: 1. Check the cranking RPM. A cranking speed of less than 250-RPM will not allow the system to spark properly. This is usually caused by a weak battery or dragging starter. Connect a battery charger on its highest setting to the battery and retest. If good spark, replace the starter and/or battery with an 850+ CCA cranking/dual purpose non-maintenance-free type. 2. Check the timer base resistance and DVA output (see NO SPARK ON ANY CYLINDER above). 3. Check the DVA output on the Orange wires from the power pack while connected to the ignition coils. You should have a reading of at least 150V or more. If the reading is low on one cylinder, disconnect the Orange wire from the ignition coil for that cylinder and reconnect it to a load resistor. Retest. If the reading is now good, the ignition coil is likely bad. A continued low reading indicates a bad power pack or timer base. 4. Check the power pack resistance given below: Wire Color (CYL) Check to Wire Color Resistance Orange/Blue (#1) Blue (in 5 pin connector with White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Green (#3) Green (in 5 pin connector with White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Blue/White (#5) Blue (in 5 pin connector with Black/White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Green/White (#7) Green (in 5 pin connector with Black/White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Purple (#2) Purple (in 5 pin connector with White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Pink (or Red) (#4) Pink (in 5 pin connector with White wire) 110 (a) Orange/Purple/White (#6) Purple (in 5 pin connector with Black/White wire) 110 (a) Orange /Pink/White (#8) Pink (in 5 pin connector with Black/White wire) 110 (a) White Black (Engine Ground) Shorted Brown Black (Engine Ground) Open or M range Brown/Yellow Black (Engine Ground) Open or M range Brown/White Black (Engine Ground) Open or M range Brown/Black Black (Engine Ground) Open or M range (a) Use a comparison reading as different brands of meters will give different readings. The typical range is 90 to 150 ohms for the Orange wires. You should have approximately the same ohm reading on all six tests with the Orange wires. If one of the SCR’s inside the power pack is shorted or open, the readings will be quite a bit different. 5. Check the spark plug wires for breaks and abrasions. 6. Visually inspect the ignition coils for burned or discolored areas and cracks in the casing (indicating arcing inside the coil). 7. Swap the ignition coil with one that is sparking correctly. 8. Rare causes include a weak trigger magnet. If possible, try another flywheel. POWER PACK OR TIMER BASE REPEATEDLY BLOWS ON SAME CYLINDER: 1. Check the timer base wires for shorts to engine ground as a shorted timer base wire can destroy a SCR inside the power pack. 2. In contrast, a shorted SCR inside the power pack can destroy a timer base coil. Check the timer base resistance and DVA output (see NO SPARK ON ANY CYLINDER).