1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

[Old No 7]

The engine start fine, but when I put it in gear, it stalls. Not immediately, but soon. In my boat slip, I have to reverse/forward, reverse/forward a few time to get out. I can't get past a few times. Forward seems worse but reverse had it's share also. <br /><br />The motor was serviced in June. Compression was good, carbs rebuilt, fuel pump replaced. Last time I was out I did notice that I didn't have as much power as I normally do, but it was also the first time I had 4 people on the boat, so I have nothing to compare it to.<br /><br />A person watching me try to get the boat back into the slip said that he thought I had a weak coil? Does that sound right?<br /><br />I appreciate the help

 

[fireman57]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

Sounds like you lost spark to a cylinder(s). Could be a weak coil or other things. Do a spark test to confirm. There are a ton of threads on doing the spark test. Use the search feature.

 

[Old No 7]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

Thanks for the help. I have searched on weak coils, and spark tests. I just wanted to be sure I was starting in the right place. I wasn't sure if I may have another fuel problem or not. This is my first boat, I have learned quite a bit from many people here, but what I don't know would fill volumes.

 

[fireman57]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

If it is a fuel problem you can try to pump your primer bulb and see if it reacts or hit your choke/primer for a second.

 

[Old No 7]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

My saga continues. <br /><br />I checked the spark, Bright blue sparks at 7/16". I don't know if it has a loud snap as my hearing isn't too good especially when leaning over the motor. <br /><br />The coils Ohm out fine. I checked the plugs which have about 3 hours on them. They had a thin coating of oil on them. All 4 were the same. I did a quick clean on them, and now it will run for about a minute before it stalls when in gear. But it still always stalls. Before it stalled in about 15 seconds. I am always extremely careful with the oil to gas mixture I use and only use OMC oil so i don't think it's that. The coating of oil worries me though. Is that normal?<br /><br />I ran seafoam in it last year to clean it out, but have not done so this year.<br /><br />I had another set of wires, so i replaced them. No Change.<br /> <br />I'm at a loss here, before i give up and have SeaTow bring it over to a mechanic, any other ideas? Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

[Old No 7]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

Anyone??

 

[Old No 7]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

been thinking on this all day. My old car used to burn a little oil. I put in a set of "hotter" running plugs, and it ran fine for years.<br /><br />Is that an option here? I have QL77JC4 plugs in there now. The manual lists UL77V plugs as an alternate. Are they hotter? what is the difference?

 

[fireman57]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

Are you doing the spark test after it dies? You could have a coil breaking down under a load. Will it idle for a long time without dieing or will it eventually die even at idle? I wouldn't use hotter plugs. The wet plugs suggest loss of fire. Let it idle for five or ten minutes and make sure that it is not overheating by leaving your hand on the head for at least a count of three. After ten or so minutes of idling pull your plugs and see if any are still wet.

 

[ob15]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

I don't want to change your way of thinking or the help you're getting with trouble shooting, but you mentioned the motor was serviced recently. Was a link & synk performed and is the idle set high enough to keep the motor running while in the water? What is the idle rpm when you're in the water? Just a thought.

 

[Old No 7]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

No i have not tried the spark test after it died. I have however let it warm up for over 5 minutes before trying it. <br /><br />The Idle in Neutral by the tach on the dashboard is about 8-900rpm. When in gear it drops to what looks like 6-700rpm IF my tach is correct, from the manual that part is good. I have no idea if they did a link & sync though. At a guess i would say probably not.<br /><br />Could the plugs have gotten wet from all the testing and stalling I (it) have been doing? I've probably been fooling with it for well over an hour by now with it only starting idling for a few minutes, and then stalling.<br /><br />I will say though that it is harder to start after it stalls. If I let it sit for 5-10 minutes, it fires right up, but immediately afterwards, it's hard to get running again.<br /><br />Is there anything i should be using to clean the plugs with?

 

[fireman57]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

If the engine was serviced in June i would see if they would give me a discount on checking it again. The reason I wanted you to check spark after it died was to see if you are dropping a cylinder after it warms up. Have you tried pumping your primer bulb when it starts to die? You need to do these things to help pin the problem down to spark or fuel. If you pump the primer bulb and it keeps running I would suspect a fuel pump.

 

[troska]

Re: 1989 88HP Johnson stalls when put in gear. Weak coil??

When they rebuilt the carbs, did they replace the float bowls? My '93 88 spl would not idle for anything before I replaced the plastic float bowls (which had warped and allowed air to be sucked in) with the aluminum replacements. After the replacing the float bowls, it will idle all day long now. Well, maybe half a day. Take a look and see if your float bowls are black plastic or aluminum. Do you ever have fuel dribble out if you tilt the motor up all the way?<br /><br />Tim