1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

[Lolly]

HELLO ALL
I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY 1988 Evenrude 140 hp 2 stroke outboard. It idles fine runs great in neutral. When I Engage to go forward it stalls. I changed spark plugs, and there was no signs of water on the spark plugs, meaning no blown head gasket. Head gasket seems fine. I rewired loose wires I found on the motor, replaced fuel pump and it runs great until you put it into gear then it stalls!! Could it be the coils, ( are there four coils) it has for cylinders, just curious? Compression on all cylinders is good, within recommended levels. What else could I check? Maybe new fuel and some additives? Also the Carburetor was rebuilt twice and added new spark plugs with a higher heat tolerance. And added new gas with the correct ratio of oil to gas mixture.

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Its not firing on all cyls.
Do compression test.
Use a timing light to find the dead hole.

Spark test with adjustable tester.

Compression guage and adjustable spark tester cost a total of $40 at any auto store.

If the dead plug is wet with fuel leave the carb alone for now.
Swap good with bad coil, see if the problem follows the coil.
Inspect coil for cracks.

And get the manual, save yourself from unecessary head scratchin.
Unless yer head is itchy.
www.outboardbooks.com

 

[Lolly]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Hello
Thanks for the quick response. The plugs are not wet with fuel and all four are firing. Compression check was good also. Thinking maybe the wiring to coils need replacement there are no cracks on coils. Totally at a loss here . Any other idea? :redface:

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Did you install a new fuel pump or a re-built one. Have you tried to pump the fuel bulb when you go into gear?

If it starts and idles and then dies in gear I would suspect a synchronize issue.

Another simple solution.... is your idle too low?

When it is at an idle can it idle up ....have you tried to move the throttles (in Neutral) by hand?

If there is spark ...there is no reason to throw coils at it.

 

[Lolly]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Hi Bob
I did not change the fuel pump nor did I try to pump the bulb while in gear will do that tomorrow. The idle is good and I will try raising . It idles when in idle and I have not tried to move throttle in neutral by hand.

I will trouble shoot all those you suggested tomorrow. Thanks totally appreciated. Will get back tomorrow. Have a good nite
Flo

 

[Lolly]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

The boat starts great and idles fine. when in neutral you can rev the motor just fine without any problems it doesn't cut out or stall. I the put it in gear and it runs fine all the way until half throttle (in gear) running great . you try to give it full throttle in gear and it acts like it is choking or not getting enough gas and dies (in full throttle). and then we put it into neutral and it starts right up and put it in gear and runs great around half throttle , give it full throttle and it dies again we can repeat the process over and over and it does the same thing. We also put a external gas tank on it with marine gas with no ethanol it makes the engine run better but still having the same problems (dies in gear only at full throttle) it doesn't die in gear unless you give it full throttle.

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Hey Flo
Come on lets get busy with that evinrude. Meet you at the dock

JA

 

[mbecke2]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Im having quite the same issue with my 140 johnson. I have done alot of replacing. Compression is around 90 on all 4 cylinders. Two of my plugs seem dry and good but 2 are wet and black. Not sure if it is carbs or sync/ignition but I am driving myself crazy. Already spent close to 900. New powerpack, reed gasket, coils, plugs, wires, vro fuelpump etc. I can get her to run fine on earmuffs but soon as she hits the water she acts up. When I put it in gear it runs till about half throttle and then kills everytime. Im interested to see if we have similiar issues. Keep me posted. Thanks.

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Hello, I have been helping lolly with her boat I found a bad coil today. I replaced it , and its definitely getting spark now but it still seems like the motor is miss firing, runs a lot better, but it seems like the timing is off, maybe? what is a good easy way to tell if the timing is off? And I'm going to check all 3 other coils. Thanks for the help!!

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

hello I'm helping lolly with her 140 evinrude and was wondering what to do if you have weak spark? was also wondering when I pull spark plug wires while motor is running only two out of four make it stall. Pulling one at a time and then replaceing it while motor is running. does this mean anything?? Thanks for the help!

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Don't pull plug wires on a running looper or you will blow your powerpack.

Test your powerpack.

If you want a definitive test, borrow an inductive timing light so that you can "read" the spark across a range of RPM.

Basically you have the same potential for damaging the ignition components that exists when not grounding the wires when running other tests: http://forums.iboats.com/showpost.php?p=2818179&postcount=4

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Thanks for the info! How would I go about testing the power pack, is that the small black box by the fly wheel? It says Eci or edi has all four wires from coils leading to it (baby boot from coils).

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Could the engine be out of timing??

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Get an inductive timing light; if the engine is firing correctly while running it will be obvious with the light.

There is no reason for the timing to be off unless someone has been fooling with it.

What is common is that QuikStart doesn't release which will cause the engine to run poorly because the timing is advanced when it shouldn't be.

You should feel and hear the QuikStart release as soon as the engine temperature reaches 96 degrees or 1100 RPM, whichever occurs first. If you use the warmup lever fully, it will reach 1100 too quickly and release QuikStart too soon - then it will stall for sure.

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Thanks for the info! How would I go about testing the power pack, is that the small black box by the fly wheel? It says Eci or edi has all four wires from coils leading to it (baby boot from coils).

If your engine is really a 1988 140, then no, the powerpack is relatively large. It's centered above the cylinder banks and mounted behind the flywheel.

See part 33 here: http://www.boats.net/parts/search/B...88/IGNITION SYSTEM & STARTER MOTOR/parts.html

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Can anyone tell me what orange wire goes on each of four coils? I have one orange with purple stripe, orange with green stripe, orange with blue stripe, and orange alone with no stripes!! Please help I think this is the problem I just dont know which one goes where! Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

O/Blue - 1
O/Green - 3
O/Purple - 2
O/Pink - 4

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

You wouldn't have a wiring diagram for baby boots on coils. I have a orange with green stripe, orange with purple stripe , orange with blue stripe,and just orange. You wouldn't happen to know Which coil each of the four wires I just explained go to ?

 

[ezeke]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

It may appear just orange, but the wire is or was orange and pink and goes to #4. Colors fade, relevance does not.

http://www.maxrules.com/graphics/omc_pics/wiring/1988_89_120_140.jpg

 

[jalbert34668]

Re: 1988 Evenrude/jOHNSON 140HP ENGINE STALLS

Thanks so much for all your help! I'm on my way to the dock to try all your suggestions. Again thanks ezeke.