Re: 1969 85 hp Johnson electrical problems
Your motor uses a battery CD ignition system. This system requires a battery of the corect spec. and in good condition. The ignit.system gets it's power from the battery. The stator replentishes the batt. The stator or alternator suplies A.C. currant to the rectifier, the rectifier turns it to D.C. to charge the batt. Your motor may have an unregulated charging system or be regulated by a clipper circut. There were changes in this system during the years it was used. One thing to note is the wiring harnesses on a lot of these motors are in sorry condition now. Most look ok at a glance, but when probed or disturbed turn to green dust. Carefully inspect all wires. All connections must be clean and tight. Batt must be fully charged. Carefully inspect the rotor cap and rotor. Look for cracks test for leaks. If these parts are sound clean and reuse. They are not desposable as are most automotive caps and rotors. Clean and readjust the points, or replace also the anti reverse spring. The plug wires unscrew from the cap. It sounds as if you have been studing your manual. Good,Keep studing it and asking questions here,until you feel you have a pretty good understansing of this system. Then procede to test the componants of this system step by step according to your manual. This will be the fastest, most sure way to solve the problem. A lot of folks do not follow this advice thinking there is a short cut. They wind up chasing their tails, spending ton of money and never getting the results they desire. Just a guess here, but your low speed miss may be due to curd in your carb, or a low speed needle out of adjustment. We won't know for sure until we start getting test results. A lot of the guys seem to suffer from info overload using these after market manuals. I feel these folks are the short cutters. Read the book, try to make the info as liniar as you can, ignor the stuff that does not pertain to your motor, we will help if you get stuck.
