Hey gang....just thought I'd let u know that I found out what was wrong with my '74 'Rude 85 hp. I got some advise online from an Evinrude expert and he directed me to some simple trouble shooting. As I've said before, I, at times, have no spark on this motor (model #85493-b). I've done my own testing and found that I NOW have spark on cyl's 1 & 3 but nothing on 2 & 4. So, I was told to take the sensor wires for cyl's 1 & 3 (from the timer base to the power pack) and move them to the spots for cyl's 2 & 4 on the power pack and if spark moves to the other side of the block (in this case, cyl's 2 & 4) you have a bad timer base (sensors are integral to timer base). Well I did this handy test and wouldn't ya know...spark moved to the other side of the block!! By moving those wires around, I now have nice, big fat blue spark on one side of the block and have diagnosed the motor with a bad timer base. I even got lucky and found a good used timer base on Ebay for $30.00 (price on new is almost $300). Hey, for $30, I'll take the chance...lol. Anyway, that's what it needs to fix my "no start" concern. I was wondering why, on occassion, the motor would drop 2 cyl's from time to time. Now, it appears, I know why. I'm getting the part at the end of this week. I'll let u know the final results. Just thought u'd all like to know. Thanks for all the advise you've given so far!!
Chris
Chris