Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

[broman]

The other week I went out to the lake and I forgot the keys to the pontoon. I tried to start it by jumping the connectors on the ignition switch. I could get it to turn over but not start. It's run fine all summer. This weekend I remembered the keys and tried to start it. I still could not get it to start. It just turns over. I removed the plugs and tested for spark but have none. It is getting fuel as the plugs get wet.

Could I have shorted something out by jumping the terminals on the switch? Also, what parts should I start looking at if I have no spark?

It's a 1976 Evinrude - 25hp.

I have little knowledge of outboards, but a decent amount about autos (replace transmissions, brakes, gas tanks, engines, etc). I am willing to thumb through some manuals to learn.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

It's a magneto system, not a battery system. Unplug the harness at the motor and use the pull starter.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Or jump the solenoid on the motor after unplugging the harness.

 

[broman]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Maybe I misunderstood your suggestions. But, I'm not trying to get it to turn over. It will turn over with the key but I'm not getting any spark. Are you saying that using the pull coard will bypass something and allow it to spark?

I noticed the other week that the key was in the on position for some time while
the boat was sitting (I have two small children). I had a 72' Dodge Dart that would burn up points if I left it in the on position too long. Does this engine have points and would they burn up if left in the on position?

 

[steelespike]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

The motor generates its own voltage for the ignition.(spark)
If you jumped 12 volts to the motor you may have fried something in the system possibly the coils.To turn the motor off the switch shorts the ignition to ground. If you only messed up the wiring you may be able to get it to start by unplugging the harness at the motor.hand crank or jump the starter.
If it runs you will have to choke it to stop.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

If you hooked 12v to either of the wires on the your switch that run to your magneto coils, you no doubt burned out a coil or coils. Disconnect the harness and try starting the engine, checking for spark. If no spark, that's probably what you did.

Coils aren't expensive. If you burned a coil, you'll just have to pull the flywheel and change it.

 

[broman]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

The coils luckily seem to be on the side of the motor and not under the flywheel. They look like this. http://i8.ebayimg.com/01/i/03/63/a2/f2_1_b.JPG and the plastic coating on them looks a little cracked and worse for wear. However, since this was the first time I have taken the cover off I'm not sure if they looked from years of use.

The boot cap on the one plug was extremely rusty inside so it's probably time to change it anyway.

Is there a way to test the coils with a multimeter if I take them off the engine? I'll probably buy new ones anyway, but I like the knowledge of how to test them. By the way, thanks for all your help so far, very enlightening.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Delete

 

[broman]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Finally had a chance to replace the coils. Still no spark. Motor turns over, has gas, but absolutely no spark. What else should I look at? Anything under the flywheel that would have burn out?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

sounds like you toasted the points, condenser, and power coil under the flywheel. time to pull flywheel.



PULLING FLYWHEEL

you need a harmonic balancer puller, you need 3 - #8 harden bolts, that fit the 3 holes in your flywheel. standard hardware store bolts will strip out, causing more problems. loosen the flywheel nut, leaving it on so it protects the thread. thread the bolts in 7/16 of an inch. then tighten the puller, adjust so it has a straight pull. now tighten the puller, rap the center bolt with a hammer, then tighten some more. you may have to let it sit over nite, and repeat in the morning. this is a compression fitting, it will eventually POP!!. do not loose the woodruff key that goes in the groove of the flywheel and the crank shaft. then installing the flywheel, it has to be totally clean, no oil, woodruff key in place. then torque the nut to the specifications for your particular motor. if you do not do this, the woodruff key with shear, and you will be repeating these steps.

 

[F_R]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

1976 had the Low Tension Magneto. It has the two high voltage (spark) coils on the outside and a low voltage "driver" coil under the flywheel. There are also two sets of points and two condensers under there. If you applied 12 volts to one of the stop wires, it would have gone through the driver coil and one set of points, Not the spark coils. So you are barking up the wrong tree with the spark coils.

The driver coil generates the electricity for the ignition. You may have melted it, or cooked a set of points. It would not hurt the condensers.

 

[broman]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Thanks guys. Looks like I have a project for next spring. Live and learn I guess.

 

[broman]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

Finally brought the motor home from the lake and started messing with it in the garage. Before I even tried starting it up I noticed a loose ground wire that I decided to fix first. I then gave it a shot of starting fluid (I left the gas can at the lake and that was all I had) and to my surprise it kicked over. I pulled the plugs and checked for spark and now I have spark. I borrowed a friends tank, started it up, but had to keep the choke on most of the time. So I dumped some Seafoam into the tank and have been running it off and on for the past few days. It seems to be ready for the lake as I can now get it to idle. At least I feel better that I didn't destroy anything when I tried to hotwire it last summer.

One other note, the new coil packs that I bought had really tight fitting caps and they ended up ripping the little spring coil out of the boot cap. I had to use a pliers to stretch them out a little so that they would keep from ripping out and then put them back together. That sucked.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Tried to hotwire my ignition, now I have no spark.

clean and rebuild the carb while you have it home, then do the adjustments in the TOP SECRET FILE, when you go to the lake. replace all fuel lines with B1 rated alcohol resistant lines, due to ethanol in todays fuel. pump fuel thru the lines before connecting to the carb, to clear any trash.