73 Johnson 25 Horse - ignition question

[twocyclemania]

Just picked up a 1973 Johnson 25 horse. It's probably the newest motor I've worked on. I'm not getting any spark and I found two black wires that connect; each one to a set of points. I don't have these on my older OMC motors. They go through the mag plate and extend about 8 inches with round metal connectors at the end. They're just sitting there. Where do they go and what do they do? There's no obvious place to connect. Also if they're not connected to anything can this be the reason for no spark? I suspect they're for a kill switch but I can't find one on the motor. Haven't checked out the coils yet but they're dark blue with no cracks so I'm wondering if they're the originals and should be suspected.

Another problem is the twist grip throttle. Where the gears mesh between the handle and the motor they seem to just miss. Is there any adjustment or are the gear teeth worn and need replacement?

Thanks

 

[AlTn]

Re: 73 Johnson 25 Horse - ignition question

black wires from points go to the shorting switch...marineengine.com has diagrams of your motor....find a post begun by 69 Alumacraft beginning November 25,2011..he had the same ignition system and problem to begin with..it will be 10 or 11 pages back by now...

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 73 Johnson 25 Horse - ignition question

Hi twocyclemania. Yup, sounds like your kill switch is out of commission. I would just take this opportunity to install a push button/lanyard kill switch. They only cost about $10 and take about 30 min to install. You just remove the fly wheel, the remove the tiny screw that holds the coil and condenser wires on the points. You then add the black wire with the eyelets (round metal connections you mentioned), then just pun the little screw back in. Make sure all of the wires are not crimped or in danger of being rubbed by the flywheel. The other end of the wire gets a little crimp on female adapter and goes on the post on the back of the kill switch. Repeat for the other set of points and voila! you have a new kill switch. It can kill the motor by either pushing the button and/or by yanking the lanyard out . Either way the button is pressed which kills the motor.


http://www.amazon.com/Seachoice-Prod-11681-Tether-Switch/dp/B002MW0P5E

 

[F_R]

Re: 73 Johnson 25 Horse - ignition question

The two kill wires do not have anything to do with your no-spark condition, if not connected. Connecting them together kills the spark. Those blue coils are usually good, assuming they aren't damaged.

 

[twocyclemania]

Re: 73 Johnson 25 Horse - ignition question

Thanks for the reply's! Today I 'dressed' the points and got spark to one of the cylinders. I switched the condensers. When I did I got spark to both cylinders. Go figure! Anyway, bottom line is I now have spark to both cylinders. As for the two kill-switch wires. I capped them and that's where they'll sit as I'll probably not look for or install a kill switch. Thanks again! And now onto the other problems.