1986 Johnson 6hp puffing and won't start

[Perspective]

I have had this motor (1986 Johnson 6hp) for a few years. I purchased from a guy who bought it twenty years earlier but he never used it. It looked brand new.

My problem is I was driving my boat and I went to slow down to grab my catfish jug and it just died and I couldn't get it to start. I trolled with my electric about 5 miles back to the launch and went home. Come to find out, I was getting no spark. I purchased the Service Manual and tested the kill button, coils, and wires. I couldn't test the power pack because I didn't have the peak voltage adapter. After reading the forums, I made an guess that the power pack was bad and replaced it. I didn't see the sense in buying the adapter when the part was $70 and the adapter was $30. Turns out the power pack was bad and I now have spark. Unfortunately, I still can't get it to start. It will puff smoke out the exhaust every 8 pulls or so but nothing more than that. Do you thing this is just flooded? I have taken the spark plugs out and they were wet so I cleared the cylinders out by pulling several times and this seems to help.

Things I have done so far.

1. Replaced spark plugs and gapped to 0.030.
2. I always use 50:1 fuel with stabile.
3. Replaced Power pack.
4. Checked the kill button.

I took the carb apart and it looked great. The tubes were all clear and the float was working fine.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[racerone]

Does it have a choke or a primer for starting ?----If a primer how do you operate that item ?----Is orange / blue wire going to the top cylinder ?

 

[Perspective]

It has the choke/primer mechanism. You pull it out to give a shot of fuel and push almost all the way back in. It gets pushed all the way once stated. There are no wires going to the top cylinder. Has power pack that goes to the coils and then the spark plugs.

 

[racerone]

What colour stripe is on the orange wire for the top cylinder ??????

 

[oldboat1]

orange/blue wire to the top coil (may have gotten the coil wires reversed when installing the new power pack).

 

[Joe Reeves]

The orange/blue wire leading from the power-pack to the top coil is correct as "racer" states.... I assume you of course have the top coil plug wire leading to the top cylinder spark plug

Now, assuming that the wires as above are now where they should be....... If the cylinders are firing out the exhaust as suspected, the wires leading from the timer base to the power-pack are reversed... BUT... unless you switched them, they should be okay as the engine ran with that setup previously.

Now..... Was the flywheel off recently? If so, and if the flywheel nut wasn't torqued to factory specifications, the flywheel key is probably sheared... and that would throw the engine out of time. Check the the flywheel key!

 

[Perspective]

Maybe, I'll try switching them. The wires were two different lengths as was the old powerpack. The new one was a CDI electronics so they were bright orange. I pit the longer wire on top just like the old on. That would make sense though cause it sounds like it puffing off sequence with the cylinders.

 

[Perspective]

The flywheel has never been off from what I can tell. I think I'll take it off though and check. The only anomaly was that the previous fishing trip was a night catfishing trip where I running slow. I seem to recall hitting a log once but I never drove fast after that. Maybe because I was running full open on the trip that it stopped working it lost its timing when I slowed down. Just not sure why replacing the powerpack got my spark back if it's off timing. Unless it was just a lucky chance.

Yes the top spark plug is connected to the top coil.

 

[Perspective]

BTW can you explain what is happening when it puffs from the exhaust. My thinking was that it was igniting the fuel in the cylinders some of the time. Would this happen if it's flooded? I've tried blowing the cylinders with spark plugs out.

 

[racerone]

You will get very good spark with a sheared key !!----Just not at the right time.

 

[Perspective]

Racerone, oldboat1, Joe Reeves,

You guys are awesome. I made a no kidding amateur move. I went outside and reversed the wires to the coils. Tried one pull and it fired. It caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting it to up and run on one pull and never filled the bucket so I had to shut it down right away. Unbelievable, I assumed that since the longer wire was on top for the oem powerpack it would be the same on the CDI electronics. Now I can go hit the trout and red drum before it gets to cold. Woo-hoo!!! I'm so excited. Case closed.

 

[Bigjoe530]

Glad you got it figured out, I did the same thing when I replaced my power pack. Thought It was a bad power pack until I realized it...

 

[Perspective]

Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. Safe Boating to you.

 

[Bonaventure]

I recommend that you change the impeller in the water pump. If the motor has sat for a long time unused it probably has some deterioration. Apart from this, you have run the motor with no cooling water and that should be enough to ruin an impeller.

I would also suggest that you get a repair manual. They are available on ebay. Get an Evinrude/Johnson manual for the year the motor was made, barring that as close to that year as you can.

There are manuals that cover a range of HP for OMC Engines, they can be confusing in my view. Spending the money for a manual that is specific to the engine is well spent.