Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

[RSO117]

Need help if you can. Was out in the bay on Sat for a few hours just cruising have a bit of a run then after one of several stop go moments whilst idling engine died. Thought nothing of it as we were dropping anchor anyway. Wet a line for nearly 30 minutes then decided to move on. Guess what.., lots of cranking but no fire. Tried for nearly an hour. choke on, choke off. Fuel was good. changed tanks over. compression was tested a week prior at 140psi per cyl. Engine just would not fire. engine eventually flooded. When we finally got it home checked spark and there is no spark in any of the 3 cylinders.
Have checked all wiring for nicks or breaks but all good. Does anyone know of any common or inherent problems with engines of this era and HP. Not really looking forward to what the mechanics going to say. If it is power pack are these expensive. I had already replaced one of the coils due to cracking. Does it matter if the replacement coil was different looking i.e. black rather than the light green colour of the other two? Do these models have contact points.

 

[shorehugger14]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

There are several older posts on here that will tell you how to check your keyswitch ignition circuitry and that's where I would start before you throw any money at it. look for posts from JB and Tashasdaddy they seem to gove some great advice pertaining to these old johnnyrude motors.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

Remove spark plugs. Disconnect the large RED plug at the engine. Test for spark, cranking the engine by jumping the solenoid. If you now have spark, replace the ignition switch.

If still no spark, remove the black/yellow wire from the powerpack and retest for spark by jumping the solenoid again. If spark exists now, a short has developed in the engine's wiring harness between the powerpack and the RED connector.

If still no spark, replace the powerpack.

 

[RSO117]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

Thanks for the advice. I shall carry out some testing tomorrow evening after work. Will post update on findings tomorrow night.

 

[RSO117]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

I have just tried all of the above which now leads me to beilieve there is a problem with the power pack. There was no spark afte the red plug was disconnected. There was still no spark after the black/yellow wire was disconnected in additon to the red plug.
Anyone have a rough idea on how much power packs are worth and maybe why it died to begin with?
Cheers Rob.

 

[shorehugger14]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

You should be able to find one online for around $85, I bought mine from boatpartstore.com. Inductive kickback is a general cause for failure of most items like this. Best to make sure all of your grounding wires and straps are in good shape and connected.

 

[RSO117]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

Ok.... still no spark. Does anyone know what the voltage should be from the magneto or basically out of the two brown wires from the charge coil and connected to positions 4 and 5 of the power pack?
Any help would be great. I'm getting between 150-160V AC

 

[RSO117]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

it was the power pack
thanks you all..

 

[boater454]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

Hi, I know this is an old thread and I tried to edit and delete because I realized I'm not supposed to open old threads (sorry). but I'm having a similar problem and was wondering how you tell if it's a bad ignition coil -vs- a power pack.
Thanks,
Andy

 

[boobie]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

I shouldn't reply to this seeing it's such an old thread but disconnect the black/yellow wire from the pack. If you have spark it's a boat prob. If not you have a mtr prob and will have to troubleshoot it with the proper manual and test equipment. Recommend you start your own thread.

 

[boater454]

Re: Evinrude 1973 65HP_No spark

OK Thanks I'll start a new thread.