1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

[billbass9]

heres the deal my 1960 75 hp johnson seems to run great in neutral at idle or when its reved up. when its in gear it sometimes runs ok but drags at over half throttle sometimes it will pop and sputter like its missing and trying to go. i took the carb apart and it looked great the needles are all perfect. i thought it was the timing or a linkige problem. well i set the timing adjusted the points played with the linkige changed the spark plugs checked all the wires on the boat everyting. still made no diffrence.<br />i pulled my distrubutor off the motor i took it almost all the way apart to check for frayed wires water oil build up or something wrong the rotor and the contacts on the cap are kinda gunky but ive seen much worse that worked. <br />anyways if i put a screw driver in thye sparkplug wire and hold the dis it shocks me? but only 2 of the 4 wires has a hard jolting shock number 1 3 and number 2 is almost nothing 4 is a little stronger. could this be my hole problem? <br />is this were the magneto is located?<br />in the distributor?<br />why do you think it wold be stronger on one cylinder then the other? <br />i tryed switching plug wires around no diffrence?<br />do you think its the dis cap rotor or somrting major?<br />any thoughts please help i cant stop thinking about it. next stop will have to be the shop and i hate the shop. thanks for your time

 

[rwise]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

the magneto is in the distributor, the rotor may be shorted and the cap sounds bad, i would relace them both and lub the bearings in it while there. they probably haven't had fresh grease (unless you have done it) since 1960! If the wires are in bad shape replace them also.<br />Richard

 

[billbass9]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

thanks for the help i regreased the bearings and im going to replace the points cap rotor and wires. also when my motor is running the distrubutor will shock me if i touch the side of it and the motor at the same time. must have a short huh. butt were??? thanks for your help if you have any more thoughts please let me know. thanks

 

[rwise]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

make sure all the surfaces are clean between it and the block. may be it has lost its path for the curent to flow, if its the metal part thats shocking you, if its the cap or wires changing them should fix that as well.

 

[byordy]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

I'm going from (dim) memory here but I beleive that distributor (or magneto) had two set of points. They fire alternate cylinders allowing each point set to dwell longer. You might check each point set to insure they are both in good shape and have the proper gap. If one set is faulty that would cause symptoms such as you are experiencing.<br />Bill.......

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

bassinbill9, are you touching the terminal on the side of the distributor when you get shocked? Don't do that.<br />Before you replace the points and cap have a good look at them and check for arching trails or cracks on the cap. I'm not sure why you'd have gunk inside the distributor. Clean the points and cap with a spray contact cleaner and try again.<br />Read my comments on the thread "1960 75 hp Super Sea Horse" regarding magneto corrosion.

 

[billbass9]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

no im not touching the screw the "distrub housing" i cleaned and check every piece in the dis and found on the screw that connects the coil ground to the points and condincer was shorting to the housing and a 2 cent rubber groumet fixed the short. ive only ran it in the yard but im going to try it tomarrow wish me luck and yes there is two seprate set of point to fire the plugs the frist fires 1,3 the second fires 2,4 thank you all for the help im hopeing it will work <br /><br />lifes a joke if your not afloat

 

[Terry H]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

Good luck...I don't think you are gonna want to know how much a distributor cap will cost you, if you can find one even. Be gentle with it...just a thought

 

[billbass9]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

well no diffrence i ran it today i just cant figure this thing out i guess the only thing left is to buy all new stuff points 2 plugs thanks for the help guys ill tell u what was wrong when i figure it out. one more try if it dont work, it will make a good solid anchor

 

[marinemech]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

the distributer on your moter requires a grond wire from the dist. to the block without this wire you could have all sorts of problems <br />just a thought good luck

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

bassinbill9, have you had your motor running with spark testers on all four? This way you can see what's happening. If you have poor spark on only one cylinder then the problem has to be something along this line like the wire, cap or plug. If you can switch these components and get the same result then you need to search further back. Does your cap have a spring to contact the coil and a carbon contact for the rotor? Did you clean the cap contacts where the rotor spins?

 

[billbass9]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

on the distrubtor this ground wire to the block does it go from the screw on the dist housing to the block?<br />ive cleaned everything spotless replaced the plugs and wires it does have a spring and a carbon contact for the coil and rotor but they<br />seem in realy good condition. i checked on a distubator cap and its 165.00 bucks but mine looks fine so i hope its the points arking

 

[Bradster941]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

LMAO.<br /><br />There are less Painful ways to check for spark!<br />

<br /><br />Yup, those caps are expensive. And since your getting such leakage with it being clean, I would say break out the wallet!<br /><br />I had one do the exact same thing though the cap looked perfect. Once replaced, it ran like a new motor.

 

[rwise]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

BB9<br />I think the screw you are refering to is for the kill circut, if you ground it you will have no spark. Look the roter over very close, I have seen them "short" out and have a verrrrry tiny hole in the center to the shaft it sets on. If this is the case you may get away with just the roter.

 

[Evinrude Boater]

Re: 1960 75 hp johny distrubter questions please help

I've posted a distributor photo in my Boat Restoration photo album. There are two wires connected to the side terminal, one goes to the condenser and the other goes down the wiring harness to the harness plug and beyond.<br /> Boat Restoration Photo Album