1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

[BrianTindall]

Well had my boat out for the first time with the Jonny 225 installed. When it runs on all 6 it seems to be ok. But after running for a few minutes it will drop a cylinder. Sometimes it will come back after a while or shutting down and waiting for some time. It seems to be electrical because when it comes back it shakes some until it clears the cylinder of fuel. Is it possible the power pack it is breaking down when it gets hot? It did this before and after the new plugs. I also bought a new coil and have swapped it with 2 of the cylinders with no luck. Compression is 90 across the board. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

^

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

^ No takers? I was following another thread but it's a 150hp engine. Unfortunately that thread has had an issue I hope has been resolved. From my understanding, the timer base or the power pack would "Normally" cause this. I've also read the regulator/rectifier can cause this as well. I have another engine to pull parts from, I just have to get it to the house. I do have a factory manual, but real world experience is better than any manual. Yes the manual explains how to check things, but you can't ask it questions!

 

[v12mac]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Could be a bad power pack but, that is an expensive part to guess. I had a 150 that did something similar and it was a bad power pack. The local shop said that they would check it and confirm for 1-hour shop time charge +part. I rolled the dice and swapped it and it worked. <br /><br />Mac

 

[farginicehole]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Brian,<br /><br />Yeah, I'm hoping it's resolved too! Anyways, I'm trying to get my hands on a peak reading voltmeter to test the components you listed above in my 150. I'm just wondering what the chances are that these components will check out okay but still be at fault since my problem continues to randomly(?) jump around to different cylinders. Does your dropped cylinder problem stay on the same cylinders, or does it skip around like mine does? Mine really confused me because I tried swapping a known good coil with a coil on a dead cylinder, then after the swap, both of them would spark good and hot! A few minutes later, one of them would go dead again along with another cylinder that was working fine before. I'm considering selling this boat to get a bigger one, but really want to be confident that this engine is tip-top so I don't stick some poor guy with my old problems! I'll replace whatever I need to, but like you (I'm sure!), I don't want to just start blindly throwing $100 bills at it until the problem finally goes away.

 

[angus63]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Run it with the cover off when it's real dark out and have someone keep an eye on it for intermittent arcs. Plug wires sometimes break down and arc to the motors as the wires flop around.<br />Good Luck

 

[james roach]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Find out which cylinder it is and then go from there. Use the same tests as for the 150 to determine if it is a carb, coil, or powerpack. I doubt it is a powerpack. Plug wires are also a culprit but you have to isolate the cylinder first.

 

[Walker]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

I'd bet its your coils. More precisely coil grounds. Pull all the coils off, clean the ground straps and the engine block where they bolt on. Put a dab of dielectric grease on each one and reinstall.

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Well I'm planning on bringing the other motor to the house and pull some parts off to swap around. My plan is to clean to block and coil mounting areas and put the coils from the other engine on. Then change the power pack if needed. I'll wait on the timer base due to it being the hardest to get to. I've already eliminated 2 cylinders for the coils, bought a new and swapped it around. I stopped there because the boat traffic was heavy in the area and it was getting late. The plug wires look newer and free of cracks. I did replace all the primary side connectors after the initial test run.

 

[dgassy]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

i think somebody said before - check allyour grounds & run it at night looking for spark.<br />i have a 9.9 johnson that craps out when i put the cover on - spark is jumping to hold down latch. havent found out why yet-every thing is new<br /><br />Good Luck<br /><br />dgassy

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

I didn't think of it the other day, but I have a timing light! Duh! Hook up the timing light to the different cylinders until I find the dead one! Man, gotta get my head together. That's a no brainer! To many things going on at once I guess.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Hopefully your problem isn't like mine in that your dead cylinder(s) jump around randomly. I haven't had time to check my stator and other components yet, but hopefully will get to that this weekend. I also need to find a good flywheel pulling tool. I have seen ones that are made from a thick piece of plate steel, but can't find where to buy one like that. Last time I tried to pull my flywheel, I destroyed one of those "made in Taiwan" cast harmonic balancer pullers. It just wasn't up to the task, and that's all I have been able to find so far at auto parts stores around here.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Brian.... If the engine runs properly when cold, but has erratic ignition after it warms up, check the stator that exists under the flywheel.<br /><br />That component is a two fold item, one of which is the beginning of the ignition system. The large black coils to the rear of the stator provide approximately 300 AC volts to the powerpack(s).<br /><br />If (rather when) those black coils fail due to heat and start to melt down, oozing a sticky substance down on the block area, the AC output voltage drops, resulting in erratic ignition and eventually.... no ignition.<br /><br />If this is the case, the cure is to replace that stator. Note that the flywheel nut torque on that 35amp model is 145 foot pounds.

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Last night I used the timing light and well, I'm not surprised to see it firing on all six. I'll have to get it in the water and run it for a while. When pulling the flywheel, tighten up the "Pulling" bolt and then rap it smartly with a hammer. Don't use the puller to horse the flywheel off. I've done my E115 and Force 120s and others that way. I'm putting the boat back in today and try a few things. I'll post how things go.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Thanks for the flywheel pulling tip, Brian. I guess if I can't find one of those "good" pullers, I will buy another of the cheap harmonic balancer pullers and just take it back if it breaks! I'm anxious to hear what you find is the cause of your ignition problem on your 225. Apparently, I have really alienated some folks on this forum with my comments about one of our local dealers.

 

[BrianTindall]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Don't worry, we've all been taken by someone at sometime. I'm lucky to have two dealers nearby that are good to work with. Having been in the business helps too. Maybe an email might help sooth things a little. I did find a cylinder dropping out (#6). I changed the coil and no good. I think I'll spring for a power pack and go from there. I know, it's parts changing, but I don't think trying to find a problem that seems to be heat related wood be easy since when the motor sits for a whlie all 6 will fire. Even if it is deeper then the pack, I'll have a new on for the peace of mind. I'll keep posting how things go.

 

[farginicehole]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

Stators aren't all that cheap either though, and it might be worth checking it per the manual before you spring for a power pack. I think you could check it when cool and then again when it's hot, and maybe you could catch the intermittent problem if it's with that component. I just need to get my paws on a peak reading voltmeter so I can do these checks this weekend.<br /><br />Not to change the subject, but my wife and I were toying with the idea of getting a "big" boat earlier this spring. Looked at a couple of '80s Egg Harbors - beautiful boats! Just having trouble right now justifying all of the expenses of a boat we would have to slip, not to mention the gas bill for a twin V8 flybridge sedan (I like to fish, not lounge around at the marina in the slip!).

 

[beach nutt]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

I have a 1994 225 Johnson with the same problem. I have replaced the power pack and stator and problem is still there. All thats left are the coils and timer base. I don"t know what the failure rates are with timer bases, but it does seem to be "heat related". A outboard mech. friend of mine said to run the engine and continue running a few minutes after the skip problem occurs. Then shut down and "feel" each plug.The one not firing should be cooler than the others due to the fuel charge and no fire on that cylinder. I have yet to try it. But it sounds good. After the money spent on the power pack and stator, Buying coils is a drop in the bucket! I will try coils and plug wires over the weekend. And then the timer base is all that"s left. It"s a pain to trouble shoot. <br /> Good luck!

 

[farginicehole]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

So, beach nutt, I guess that answers one question I had. I was wondering if you got a new timer base when you ordered a new stator, but sounds like that's a big "no". The reason I questioned this is that my Clymer manual steps you through checking various items, such as charge coils, sensor coils and timer base, and then tells you to "replace stator" if any of these components fail. I'll read it again to make sure I'm not misquoting, but why would I replace the whole stator if the charge and sensor coils checked out okay and then the timer base check failed, especially if buying a new stator doesn't get me a new timer base?! Good luck to you too - I think all three of us are going to need plenty of it!

 

[james roach]

Re: 1988 J225 Loses fire to 1 or more cylinders

My vote is for coils. It sounds like they are firing at idle and droppping out as it heats up. If they are originals, it's time to replace them.