'86 Force 125 stator causing loss of power to bottom cylinders?

Fireman Fox

Recruit
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
5
First, I have to say thank you to everyone on this forum. I have used it for years, and found it very helpful. I finally decided to sign up because, well, I'm on a bit of an adventure with this motor. Got it out for the first time this year and it had a sticky throttle. Disconnected the cables pulled the linkage, finally pulled the flywheel and discovered that the trigger assembly was sticking. Cleaned it up and it moved just fine. Got it on the lake and could only get 1100 rpm out of it. Replaced the plugs and plug caps, re-timed it, pulled apart the carbs and cleaned them, same result. Tested the CD modules, coils and connections, found no power going to bottom 2 cylinders. Coils and CD modules were good. Finally pulled the flywheel again and found that the plastic terminal block (on top, below the flywheel) was cracked, and the 2 screw connections for #s 3 & 4 were bottomed out and grounding to the engine block below. Fixed that, and got about half power going to bottom 2 cylinders. Looked at the stator and discovered that the first time we'd had it off, we'd caused a couple of little chips in the insulation that covers the coiled copper wires, specifically right where the wires for the 2 bottom cylinders emerge from the stator. My question is: could these tiny breaches in the insulation there cause the stator to arc to the flywheel or engine block and lose partial power to the bottom cylinders? I know that's a lot of info, but I could really use some input here from someone who knows what they're doing (ie. not me).
 

Jiggz

Captain
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
3,817
Re: '86 Force 125 stator causing loss of power to bottom cylinders?

Yes, it is very possible to arc over. The generated voltage in the stator winding feeding the CDM's at cranking speed is at least 180VAC but much higher at rated speed or probably even at idle speed. If the rubbed off insulation didn't go deep enough into the winding and you still have good ohm's reading on both yellow and blue wires (600~800 ohms) you can use liquid electrical tape or better yet insulating varnish to cover it.
 

Fireman Fox

Recruit
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
5
Re: '86 Force 125 stator causing loss of power to bottom cylinders?

That's exactly the info I was looking for, Jiggz. I'll get the volt meter on it and check. I'm pretty sure it was just the insulation, and not the wiring that got damaged. Thanks!
 
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