1958 Johnson 3hp

[S.A. Baker]

Well...everyone warned me! Nearing completion of major cleanup of my 3 hp that I last used in 1983. Never missed a beat since I bought it in 1968. My late father used it in 1991 and it conked out on him a long paddle from the cabin. It has great spark. But as I disassembled to clean more I can see a crack in part of a coil peeking out under the flywheel. After finishing the cleanup of the entire motor including fuel tank and carb..and not yet understanding why it finally failed my dad in '91...I pulled the tin cover plate off of the flywheel. Good grief! ..BOTH coils look like hatched eggs! Totally ruptured. I guess THAT would kill it when it got warm! I'm a retired power sports tech of 42 yrs.....plus I own or have owned a LOT of old stuff. NEVER seen this on any other old coil. In fact I have an old OMC powered lawnmower and the coil is still fine. The question is .. Why do ALL of the Johnson outboards of this era have the same coil issue? Just a bad choice of plastic resins back then?.... Steve

 

[F_R]

Yes and no. It was state of the art back then, so not a "bad choice". I can tell you that an awful lot of other brands also had their coil problems. The Repco coils used on Mercurys all cracked long ago also. On the other hand, some coils were indestructable. The old shellac sealed Wico coils would fall into that catagory. They are as good today as they were when made 70 years ago. Well, I'll admit that roaches find them delicious and eat them. The old beeswax sealed coils used by OMC in the late '40s and early '50s are still going strong also. Probably hard to get enough beeswax to do 'em that way now.

 

[S.A. Baker]

Is there a particular aftermarket coil that should be used for this motor? I have read that some of the new repops are for the CD ignition motors, and don't work well with the points ignition systems. Even though they look the same other than the core laminations are black. Anyone know the scoop on this? Thanks....Steve

 

[F_R]

Buy the correct ones for the motor right here at iboats. They never made CD coils that fit that motor.

 

[S.A. Baker]

Two different coils listed for 1950- 1976 3 hp on I boats. One actually SAYS CDI on it!

 

[oldboat1]

CDI is a manufacturer, SA. I usually go with OEM coils if available, but OK with Sierra or CDI. Probably lots of opinions, preferences. Think you can pick up Sierra coils through NAPA if more convenient.

edit. Mallory. also good.

 

[S.A. Baker]

Thanks guys!.. Yes I'll be hitting NAPA. Checked with local Evinrude dealer that's been in business since the early 60's....they want about 38.00 a coil. But I am tempted to go OEM. Unless they are ALL made by the same outfit! Which wouldn't surprise me.

 

[HighTrim]

While I agree that sometimes a general supplier manufactures an item for many vendors, in the case of these coils, that is not the case.

They are all very different. I find the green German Prufrex coils the best. The black OEM coils are also very good.

While the Sierra work ok, I would rank them at the bottom of the list. Just my 2 cents. The wiring is much too long, and the lamination design is off. Anyone that has tried to use a coil locating ring on a set of them know what Im talking about. You have to sacrifice spark quality slightly as the air gap is larger than it should be. You have to push the coil back farther off the mounting boss than you do a Prufrex or OEM coil, or the magnets will hit the laminations. They are not Concentric.

Again, I have and do buy some Sierra coils, but my humble opinion is that they are not at the same standard as others.

 

[S.A. Baker]

High Trim... So where do we find German made Prufrex coils? German made is good!

 

[HighTrim]

I buy mine from an AOMCI member that sells coils. Jim, the coil guy! PM me and I can send you his contact info, or go to the AOMCI site, aomci.org, and look in the classifieds.

 

[S.A. Baker]

I tried that site some time back. Apparantly you have to be a paying member to get in! ... But thanks for the info!