CDI Electronics Outboard Ignition Troubleshooting Guide

69 Johnson/Evinrude Troubleshooting Johnson/Evinrude Carbureted 1995-2006 Model Years Due to the differences in this ignition system, troubleshooting can be somewhat difficult if you are not familiar with the design. The other Johnson/Evinrude Quick-Start ignitions use stator charge coils and a power coil to provide high voltage and power for the Quick-Start and rev limiter circuits. They require a sensor for triggering and use separate magnets for the high voltage and triggering the sensor. The OIS 2000 Optical system uses the stator charge coil to provide high voltage for the firing of the ignition coils and a power coil to provide power for the electronics, both inside the power pack and inside the sensor. The other Quick-Start models will run the engine without the power coil being connected (of course this will burn out the control circuits inside the power pack). The OIS 2000 ignition has to have the power coil supplying power in order to operate the Quick-Start, S.L.O.W., rev limiter, and spark the coils beyond cranking speed. The optical sensor located on the top is fed power from the power pack and sends crankshaft position, cylinder location and direction of rotation back to the power pack. The pack is smart enough to know not to spark if the engine is not turning in the right direction. S.L.O.W. functions reduce the engine RPM to approximately 2500 when the engine over-heats or the no oil warning is activated. Quick-Start (a 10° timing advance) activates as long as the engine RPM is below 1100, the engine temperature is below 105° F and the Yellow/Red wire from the starter solenoid is not feeding 12V DC to the power pack all of the time. Quick-Start will also activate for 5-10 seconds each time the engine is started regardless of engine temperature. CDI Electronics (Blue case with Red sleeve) power packs have a built-in feature to compensate for a shorted cold sensor, allowing the engine to come out of Quick-Start after 5 minutes of running time regardless of the condition of the cold sensor. The CDI power pack will not have consistent spark if the wrong encoder wheel (6 cylinder) is installed by mistake. At cranking speed the voltage from the stator may not be enough to operate the circuits inside the power pack, therefore there is battery voltage supplied from the starter solenoid via the Yellow/Red striped wire. The extra voltage is needed in order for the optical sensor to operate correctly as low voltage from the battery and/or stator can cause intermittent spark or no spark at all. There are a couple of critical items you should be aware of on these engines. First, the spark plug wires have to be the Gray inductive resistor wires – these are NOT automotive wires. Secondly, the spark plugs have to be the factory recommended QL78YC. Use of other spark plugs or wires can cause problems inside the power pack from RFI and MFI noise. CDI Electronics wire set is P/N: 931-4922. A breakthrough at CDI Electronics has allowed the use of microprocessor digital control circuits to handle the timing, Quick-Start, S.L.O.W. and rev limiter functions inside the power pack. This allows the timing to be set using a timing light, remote starter, spark gap tester, piston stop tool and a jumper wire. With these new digital power packs, you disconnect the port temperature switch/sensor leads and use a jumper wire to short the tan temperature sensor wire to engine ground. Once you have verified the timing pointer using a piston stop tool (Or a dial indicator), connect all spark plug wires to a spark gap tester, connect a remote starter to the engine and a timing light to # 1 spark plug wire. When you crank the engine over with the remote starter and check the timing, you should see the timing is set to approximately 4°-6° ATDC (After Top Dead Center). By advancing the throttle all the way and rechecking the timing for WOT (Wide Open Throttle), you should see approximately 19° - 21° BTDC (Before Top Dead Center) Without this timing feature built into the power pack, you would not be able to easily set the timing for idle or WOT without a optical diagnostic tool. Additional advantages offered by the digital circuitry include the ability to compensate for a bad temperature switch, a smoother rev limit, customized rev limiters and special timing curves. Additional items to be aware of: 1. Originally the spark plugs were the QL82YC, but that recommendation was changed to the QL78YC for improved performance. 2. Some engines do not have the RFI/MFI noise shield between the ignition coils and the power pack. If it is missing, replace it. NO SPARK ON ANY CYLINDER: 1. Disconnect the Black/Yellow stop wire AT THE POWER PACK and retest. If the engine’s ignition has spark, the stop circuit has a fault. Check the key switch, harness and shift switch. 2. Disconnect the Yellow wires from the stator to the rectifier and retest. If the engine sparks, replace the rectifier. 3. Check the cranking RPM. A cranking speed of less than 250-RPM will not allow the system to spark properly. This can be caused by a weak battery, dragging starter, bad battery cables or a mechanical problem inside the engine. 4. Verify the engine is turning in a clockwise direction. If not, see TRIES TO RUN BACKWARDS below. 5. Check the power pack and ignition coil ground wires for corrosion and tightness. 6. Connect a spark gap tester to all cylinders. 7. Disconnect the boat side harness and connect a remote starter unit. Check for spark. If the engine has spark, check the boat side harness’s Black/Yellow wire for shorts to ground.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTU1MzIx