No spark

[tomassfj]

I have a 1989 Johnson 70. It starts and runs great at home. I take it one block to the boat ramp and it will not start. I was able to lay on the dock and wiggle the wires under the flywheel. I think when i wiggled the 2 orange wires going up under the flywheel the boat fired right up and ran perfect until the next time i put it in the water and it did the same thing. I wiggled the wires again and same thing fired right up and ran great. What do the 2 orange wires do and is it possible a loose connection or short in these 2 wires can cause this. Thank you

 

[boobie]

Sounds like the stator wires.

 

[willamettejeff]

Orange wires are from stator and provide AC voltage that is rectified in the power pack to ~300vdc that is then feed to ignition coils to provide spark. Sounds like you either have a break in one or both of the wires, they are being shorted to a ground, or you have a bad or corroded connector, Try just disconnecting/reconnecting connector next time before wiggling wires. Also, clean both the stator and timing sensor connectors. I have changed all of the old connectors on my 1978 70hp engine running all 1989 ignition parts to Deutsch ones with gold pins . These are what are use on new Johnson/Evinrude outboards.

If you need to replace the stator, I've had good luck buying on Ebay, Just make sure they list the resistance numbers. Orange wires should by 160 ohms +- 20 ohms I believe for your 1989.