johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

bigchunkytaco

Seaman
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
54
gday
opened up an old johnson was told it was running 6 months ago but fuel pump was buggered.
i beleive its a 69 model 40hp model #40RL69R

tested the spark one of which wasnt working so took the pull start and head off, one of the little spring plates on the coils wasnt touching so i pushed it with a screwdriver to make the tiny plates touch, seemed to give me good spark so i put a new fuel pump in reconnected the leads but couldnt get it to start, so pulled the plugs back out and now getting intermittant and mostly no spark. no idea why it would have strong spark and then choose not to... unless those plates are were meant to NOT touch..

there is a groove in the shaft and also on the round metal head that makes me think there should be some kind of pin or key that fits the grooves together? should it be spinning freely with the pull start or be attached to the shaft (when in gear it doesnt move the prop when you yank the pull cord)

also confused as to the purpose of the big cut out switch on the starboard side of the engine that has a fuel line going to the case. i have the bottom/middle red wire running up under the stator, and the top yellow wire running to what seems to be that igntion cut of switch that depresses with position of the throttle ( i.e start/run). the other side of this switch has no wire coming from it?

should this button be depressed to start, or open...

on my other outboard this switch had to be pushed in (corresponding with the neutral on the gear selector) however when the throttle is in the start position this button is not pushed in.. correct? where should the other side of this switch be wired to?

the manual push button cut out switch is disconnected.. i would guess that one of the wires goes to the stator with the red wire and the other one maybe goes to the other side of that button switch with yellow wire? or something else?

is my wiring just incomplete? i cant understand why that would give me random sparks.. any help would be greatly appreciated despite my poor description..
 

AlTn

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Mar 9, 2010
Messages
2,813
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

Big C...if you'll go to ...boats.net....look under johnson outboard parts..find you year and model...it may make it easier to understand what you're describing parts wise...the diagrams may help you as well
 

lindy46

Captain
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Nov 27, 2008
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3,886
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

By spring plates, do you mean points? If so, they should be precisely set to 0.020" when they are fully open, at the high point on the cam (marked "top"). By groove in the shaft and round metal head, I assume you are referring to the keyway in the crank and flywheel. There has to be a key in there to keep the flywheel timed to the crank. If the key is missing, the motor will never spark properly, and will not run.
 

bigchunkytaco

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Feb 6, 2011
Messages
54
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

ahh much easier thank you..
i think your right there should be a key i wasnt sure if it affected the timing..

by spring plates i was refering to the breaker assembly shown as #10 in this diagram

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/BRP/JOHNSON/1969/40RL69R 1969/MAGNETO GROUP/parts.html#
they are spring loaded and i assumed the 2 points should be touching?

this is the cut out switch i was refering to
http://www.boats.net/parts/search/BRP/JOHNSON/1969/40RL69R 1969/CUT-OUT SWITCH GROUP/parts.html

ive never come across one before it seems to have a fuel line and some kind of diahpram or pulse switch.
the upper wire #16 from this cut out switch is the yellow connected to the button safety switch which i think is #48 in this diagram which would usually prevent starting in gear..

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/BRP/JOHNSON/1969/40RL69R 1969/POWERHEAD GROUP/parts.html

of which the other side is not connected to anything, just wondering if this should be pressed when trying to start. and basically if i were to connect the other side of it through the manual kill switch and back to the bottom wire #19 would that be correct?

hope thats a little clearer thanks
 

lindy46

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Nov 27, 2008
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3,886
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

Yes, those are the points - should be set to .020" at their wide open position. The cut-out switch prevents a runaway situation if the motor rpm's get too high, it cuts out the bottom cylinder to slow the rpm's. That's a vacuum line attached to it, not a fuel line. Should be two black wires in the center - one going to an "M" terminal on the ignition switch, and one going up under the flywheel to the lower cylinder set of points. The side post should have two white wires - one going to the safety switch and the other going to a small terminal on the starter solenoid. A second black wire goes to the other "M" terminal on the ignition switch and goes directly under the flywheel to the upper cylinder set of points. Those two black wires going to the "M" terminals are the kill circuit, which stops the motor when you turn the key off.
 

bigchunkytaco

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Feb 6, 2011
Messages
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Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

right so i made up a key and the pull start is engaging properly but its fairly heavy. i dont think theres a solenoid and no ignition switch as its a pull start..

as it sits i have one wire from the centre going to the flywheel and another open ended wire coming from the flywheel.
i am thinking you are right in connecting this other black wire from the flywheel in a circuit to the centre of the cut out switch..

however the side post has one wire going to the safety switch under the flywheel, but the other side of the safety switch is not connected to anything? if there is no solenoid shoudl i be connecting this to something?

failing all of this am i able to dissconnect that entire part of the system to see if i can get it going or will it not have a complete circuit without this wired correctly
cheers
 

bigchunkytaco

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Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
54
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

im getting constant spark on the bottom cylinder buyt cant get the top to fire..
still unsure if that saftey switch button should be pressed in to start...
 

lindy46

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3,886
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

So the motor has no electric starter? Must have been removed at some point in time. The other side of the safety switch goes to ground. The safety switch just prevents the electric starter from firing if the throttle is advanced too far. Should have no effect on pull starting. If you have no spark on the top cylinder, make sure the loose black wire is not grounding out. Just tape it for for the time being. If still no spark, you have a bad coil, bad/dirty/misadjusted points, bad condenser or plug wire. You really need to get a factory flywheel key which is the properly hardened steel.
 

James R

Commander
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
2,660
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

With old motors like yours the plug wires and end clips are always suspect. It is a little work but you can replace them. Just fixed a 1960 and a 1964, both had bad wires. Not uncommon.
 

tx1961whaler

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May 31, 2008
Messages
5,197
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

The two black wires from under the flywheel to NOT get connected together.
 

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arnfayn1

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Apr 1, 2010
Messages
9
Re: johnson 1969 40hp help! spark/wiring?

I have 1960 Johnson 40hp and reviewing wiring diagram shown below. We can see that the wire came from ?M? terminal of the key switch to the cylinder coil. This coil will be powered by 12v continually and be fired. Can somebody to answer for this question? I do now think that diagram is right.
 
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