1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

wavrider

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Nov 26, 2007
Messages
543
Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

235 vdc gives a p-p avg of 130 v ac,, little low but will still fire the coils give you abour 26.1kvolts out of the coil.

could be connections, and yes it did take some time to discharge the cap at 10meg ohm resistance, can sub a smaller resistance value to decrease discharge time, or short your leads together to discharge the cap before making next measurement.

seems lke you are loosing a litle bit of voltage in the amp section but it is switching.

new coils will definately improve the performance and probaly get you through the season but that amp may need replacing or it may have been a dirty contact.

I believe the coils ohm out at 2k ohm new so you may try removing the coil from the amp, connect a 2k ohm resistor to the terminal on the amp and the other side to ground and try to take a measurement that way or wait till your new coils come in to re check after installing them

***NOTE*** never check the output of your amp with no load on the terminal, sure way to blow the circuit, have to have that 2k ohm load on the output.

it may be your coils are putting more of a load or less of a load on the amp and causing the lower reading on the output. when a coil starts going bad it can and will take out the rest of the components in the ignition eventually.

If after replacing the 4 new coils your readings still stay under 150vac then the amp will need replacing also, keep in mind you HAVE to have 150vac coming in on the brown wires in order to get 150vac out of the amp, so make sure you get 150vac in before throwing any more parts at this ignition system.

a bad rectifier will also take out an ignition system.

troubelshoting matrix says to disconnect the rectifier while performing tests, i did not disconnect mine as i ohmed it to make sure the diodes were good and i got good readings from the system.

I know what you mean not enough hands, i used gator clips jumper wires to do mine, and a remote starter hooked to the solenoid to turn it over.

I will try to snap the pics of the throttle assy tonight after work and get them sent to you for the lync n sync.
 

Randyg123

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Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

I am looking forward to the photos. It will give me something to work on tonight while I wait for the new coils to arrive.

Wife's ready for the boat to leave the garage too.

I also learned something new last night. I can't solder to save my life. Worst part is that I can't see any more:( even with some reading glasses I couldn't see well enough to do a good job soldering. Made a mess of my breadboard but apparently nothing shorted out. Put it all in a little black box to make it pretty. I think I spent about $2.50 for the rectifier (same as a pack of 4 diodes), $2.50 for the cap, and a buck for a pack of resistors. The expensive part was a set of cable leads that were around $7. I remember when Radio Shack actually used to have electronic stuff. Now it is all crammed into a tiny spot in the back of the store. Couldn't even find their tube testing station!!!!!!!
 

Randyg123

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Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

Okay, here we go. More data.

Checked the coil volts using some jumpers to get better contact. Each coil came up with 235-238 volts p-p. So it is agreed that this is low. How low, I'll defer to your statement that it is marginal but we'll accept it for now.

Next, I picked up a spark tester at a local autoparts store. Turns out it was a real piece of @#$%. Markings on it do not line up to anything they are supposed to and the screw used to change the gap is so loose in its brass base (the ground link) that I think it adds a little resistance. So I tried my best to measure the true distance between the two points of the gap but I have no calipers to be too exact. My guess is that I am +/- 1/32".
Each coil would not fire at 9/16" but did at 17/32", easily at 1/2". So my results of this test seems to indicate my spark is fine. My repair manual says the '73 gap should be 1/2" whereas all else was 7/16". Everything fired okay at 1/2 and 17/32.
 

Randyg123

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Welch Plug Model number different

Welch Plug Model number different

Now things have gotten realy out of hand.

I am told that my engine has a bubbleback and that does not belong on a 1973 85HP so I got down to the welch plug and found this:

Model number is 135ESL75E
Serial number J4333712


The transom says:
85ESL-73M
J3894160

So far, everything has been tuned up and most equipment has checked out as a 1973 85HP.

Can anyone tell anything about these serial numbers. Is this really a 1975 135HP or is it a "Frankenstein"?
 

Randyg123

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Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

1973 135hp Johnson above link verifies

You get that engine running correct it will be a screamer:)


Ooops missed you post before I started a new thread on the new issue.

But it is a 75 not a 73, correct?

So when setting up the throttle linkage, will I still use the instructions we discussed? Would it be possible to have you reply with those steps again. Just briefly, I can fill in the details but I want to make sure I do all the steps in the right order.

Thanks, again.
 

wavrider

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Messages
543
Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

Sorry million things going on at the office yes it is a 1975
 

Randyg123

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Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

/\/\/\/\ what you said:)

Does that mean you resist what I said?

I've got the new coils in.
I rotated the cam adjustment piece out five turns. Just for starters. I din't want to make too drastic of a change just yet. Fired it up with the earmuffs on and it started right up and reved really high.

I thought I would leave it alone since I had forgotten most of the instruction you gave me to adjust the linkage but like a fool I went and did some more tinkering. Probably messed up everything I gained:( I loosened up the srew on the follower and let the butterflies snap shut. But then I forgot wht to do next.

I'm taking out tomorrow to run it around the lake. Hopefully I'll have more news.
 

wavrider

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Messages
543
Re: 1973 Johnson 85HP Cylinder Order

Does that mean you resist what I said?

Not resisting just agreeing with you:p

Let us kniow how the test worked out, I wilhave the cell with me all day give a call if you need some assistance in that link n sync, hopefully you got it all figured aout and will enjoy the afternoon on the water:)
 

Randyg123

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motor ran poorly

motor ran poorly

Well I backed it into the lake and it would not start just as before.

I took the cover off and pulled the throttle arm back (towards the bow) as I had recently learned to do and the motor finally started.

Back the boat out and ran it in some circles why I waited for my friend to park the truck. It ran okay, seemed a little hesitant. Then my friend ran up the the bathroom so I took the boat out of the no wake zone and opened it up. Not full throttle, it was a little choppy for that but pretty fast. Then back to the dock to pick up first mate and then off across the lake at about 3/4 speed. everything was okay, except it stil would not idle. I set it neutral (had to pull up the warm-up lever to keep it from stalling) and dropped the trolling motor for about 4-5 minutes to get through a stumpy area. Got through those, started to throttle up and the boat stalled out, restart run, stall. After a while I came to the conclusion that I could not get the throttle past about half way. If I did, the motor would stall. Had to cruise around the lake at about 10mph. the engine was running a bit rough at this speed as well. After about 10-15 minutes, shut her down and went electric to fish for a couple of hours. Started back up, same problems. Limped back to the trailer and came home with my tail tucked between my legs.:(
 

Randyg123

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Motor won't run past 1/2 throttle

Motor won't run past 1/2 throttle

Pulled the plugs last night. They seemed a bit wet to me, but then I'm not used to two strokes. They looked relatively the same, with the possible exceptionof #3 was a little bit cleaner (I stress 'a little bit').

Hopefully today I will get the opportunity to check the ignition voltages and resitances to see if any changes from last week before I put in the new coils.

I am hoping for a few tips from the pros regarding my new problem before I get working on it again.
 
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