1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

[mustman65]

I have been working on my 1970 Evinrude 3cyl 60hp outboard for a few months now, typically only when I have a warm day. In January, I started a thread about some ignition problems that I am having, in which I am not getting spark from my coil. I have ordered a new coil (my tests showed that it was likely bad), and am waiting for it to come in. I have found some wires to be bad/frayed/etc and am working on replacing them. In the meantime, I have come up with a question or two:

1. What compression numbers are ideal for this engine. Mine test at 115psi or higher per cylinder, but I'm wondering if original figures would have been much higher than this?

2. Has there been a thread, or does anyone know of a way to test the amplifier unit on this engine. Mine was replaced, but I have no idea how long ago it was put on. It looks new/shiny, but I know from experience that this means nothing when it comes to electrical components!

Model: 60073B
Serial: J03211

Thank you in advance!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

Compression values of around 115 psi are what I would call "ok" for that engine. My 1972 Johnson 65hp, which is essentially the same engine as yours from a mechanical perspective, still shows compressions of nearly 140 psi. I think that your numbers are high enough for the engine to run well though, so I would be more concerned about balance at this point. You didn't mention what values you have gotten for the cylinders that are above 115 psi, but as long as they are within 10% of one another, you are in good shape.

I would do a search on issues pertaining to your amplifier - I think I remember at least a couple here at the iboats forums on that topic.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

I think the ignition systems in Jay's vintage were much improved over the 1970 model...but it might have been later.
That engine is almost the same vintage and has the same basic ignition system as the '68 Johnson 55 HP that I cut my teeth on (and frequently my knuckles..)
In its golden years it began to eat ignition components at an alarming and expensive rate, and I couldn't figure out why....until one day I moved a wire to access something else and watched the insulation crumble into dust. A closer inspection showed most of the wiring under the hood to be in that condition....especially at the big plug that connected the internal and external wiring.
I redid all the internal wiring and my ignition problems vanished for another 5+ years.

No guarantees that this would solve your issues, but I can guarantee that if you have the same problems with your internal wiring as I did, that you may never get your ignition woes sorted out until they are fixed.
That era of OMC CD ignitions were ...charitably put....somewhat fussy.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

Yes, he does have a very different ignition than mine. He has a distributor, points, one coil and an amplifier. I have a stator, timer base, power pack & three coils.

 

[mustman65]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

Thank you gentlemen! I'm slowly finding that my wiring was in fact pretty bad. Surprisingly, the engine of my boat is nearly flawless looking, clean, grease-free, and as to be expected from a garage kept boat. I think though, that in my case the large amount of time my boat spent sitting in the garage actually hurt it more than it helped. It is in amazing physical condition, but doesn't run, so what's the use! Haha. I'm debating buying the entire engine harness, which is available in reproduction form online, and being done with it. I have a new coil now (just came in today) new plug wires, a seemingly new amplifier, new spark plugs (not the surface gap plugs) and will be cleaning all of my terminals and terminal block (some corrosion there), so why not just buy the harness and be done with it? I'll gladly spend money on this boat, but I'm simply afraid of my problems stemming from the distributor system, which EVERY single person I have talked to says is a nightmare, impossible to work on, and essentially reason enough to scrap the project.

I'm hoping for the better though. I think if I do have a new coil and such, that I would be wise to replace the wiring harness in case that resistance caused by bad connections could cause damage to my new parts.

We'll see! It's supposed to be decently warm tomorrow here as well.

 

[mustman65]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

And simply for fun, I found a picture of my boat when I was about 16 (I am 23 now), before I had all of the canvas replaced and new carpet installed. (I'm pretty sure I didn't need a windshield on the boat with the huge, heinous glasses!

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

Thank you gentlemen! I'm slowly finding that my wiring was in fact pretty bad. Surprisingly, the engine of my boat is nearly flawless looking, clean, grease-free, and as to be expected from a garage kept boat. I think though, that in my case the large amount of time my boat spent sitting in the garage actually hurt it more than it helped. It is in amazing physical condition, but doesn't run, so what's the use! Haha. I'm debating buying the entire engine harness, which is available in reproduction form online, and being done with it. I have a new coil now (just came in today) new plug wires, a seemingly new amplifier, new spark plugs (not the surface gap plugs) and will be cleaning all of my terminals and terminal block (some corrosion there), so why not just buy the harness and be done with it? I'll gladly spend money on this boat, but I'm simply afraid of my problems stemming from the distributor system, which EVERY single person I have talked to says is a nightmare, impossible to work on, and essentially reason enough to scrap the project.

I'm hoping for the better though. I think if I do have a new coil and such, that I would be wise to replace the wiring harness in case that resistance caused by bad connections could cause damage to my new parts.

We'll see! It's supposed to be decently warm tomorrow here as well.

I had a 1969 Johnson 55 that had the same symptoms.
This was the early OMC venture into CID ignition and shall we say was not without its foibles.
These engines had a tendency to develop an appetite for power packs/amplifiers. As often as not this would also take out the rectifier.
Mechanically these were fine engines, but the electrics provided me with years of ongoing adventure, particularly when starting.

My money is still on the ignition system...my #1 suspect is the power pack...#2 would be the coil. The fact that you replaced a power pack last year suggests that there may be a root cause elsewhere in the ignition system.
Does your 60 HP have the BHP (big honking plug) in the main harness inside the engine cover? These are a major cause of problems as the wiring deteriorates....insulation breaks down....resistance increases etc. etc.

Best maintenance advice I ever got was from a guy who runs a repair shop in Florida. He told me to go over all the wiring in the harness inside the motor, replace anything that was suspect, and GET RID of the BHP. I made all the connections with ring connectors and heat-shrink tubing, on a terminal board. For the rest of its service life it ran better than original. Sure starts, and no more power pack failure.

Any good service manual will give the troubleshooting steps to verify these components. If you don't have the equipment/tools most good repair shops can test the components. You can remove the mounting plate and take the whole thing to the shop.
Be sure to do at least a visual on the internal wiring, paying particular attention to the condition of insulation especially at the BHP. After 30 +years this could be a trouble point.

This is an old post I made on this subject. I would not buy a new harness...if available. This would still involve that BHP that is probably part of the problem.
The control harness from the front of your boat to the motor is probably long enough for a 20-22 foot boat...looks like yours is ~ 15-16 feet.
You should be able to cut the plug off, bring the cable to the termiinal strip and make the connections there, using only as much of that cable as you need. The extra cable that you can cut off will give you the extra colour-correct wires that you need to rewire the inside of the motor, terminating on the same terminal block.
Use good quality crimp-on ring connectors and a small piece of heat shrink tubing on all of these new terminations and you will have a long lasting professional job.
The only downside is that disconnecting the moptor electrics will now take 10-15 minutes instead of simply disconnecting a plug.
BTW, I removed my motor from the boat every fall.....and I still found that well worth the trade off to get rid of the %$#@@^ plug.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

Thank you gentlemen! I'm slowly finding that my wiring was in fact pretty bad. Surprisingly, the engine of my boat is nearly flawless looking, clean, grease-free, and as to be expected from a garage kept boat. I think though, that in my case the large amount of time my boat spent sitting in the garage actually hurt it more than it helped. It is in amazing physical condition, but doesn't run, so what's the use! Haha. I'm debating buying the entire engine harness, which is available in reproduction form online, and being done with it. I have a new coil now (just came in today) new plug wires, a seemingly new amplifier, new spark plugs (not the surface gap plugs) and will be cleaning all of my terminals and terminal block (some corrosion there), so why not just buy the harness and be done with it? I'll gladly spend money on this boat, but I'm simply afraid of my problems stemming from the distributor system, which EVERY single person I have talked to says is a nightmare, impossible to work on, and essentially reason enough to scrap the project.

I'm hoping for the better though. I think if I do have a new coil and such, that I would be wise to replace the wiring harness in case that resistance caused by bad connections could cause damage to my new parts.

We'll see! It's supposed to be decently warm tomorrow here as well.

As if you need another agreement on the distributor, here it is. Those ignition systems were pretty good, but the distributor killed it all. You can have terrific spark going into the dist but puny spark coming back out. That is the reason the first step is to trash the surface gap plugs, which I'm glad to see that you did.

When troubleshooting the system, dismount the coil and unscrew the wire from the dist cap, then remount the coil. Then check the spark off the wire.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: 1970 Evinrude Triumph 60hp questions...

I absolutely agree on the change in plugs. My motor has surface gap plugs in it when I bought it. The first recommendation that I received from my local OMC/BRP shop, is to go to "J plugs." I did and have enjoyed an engine that runs well at all rpm ranges, ever since.