Johnson Stinger

[mgsolakis]

I finally got some decent weekend weather to work on that 1978 Johnson Stinger. I got it all cleaned up and then hooked up the battery. I put the muffs on and tried to start it but it just made a clicking sound. I changed batteries and tried again with the same results. Is the starter fried? What would cause this to happen.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Re: Johnson Stinger

Might be the solenoid, starter or a cable or something else, sometimes even corrosion on the end terminals of the cables that attach to the battery can do this.
Id start by putting jumper cables onto the starter and then on to the solenoid to trace back the fault.

 

[Will Bark]

Re: Johnson Stinger

Agree, but also clean every electrical connection you see around the solenoid and starter shiny bright along with both ends of the battery cables. good luck

 

[racerone]

Re: Johnson Stinger

Take the starter apart for inspection.---Very easy to do.

 

[mgsolakis]

Re: Johnson Stinger

So it was the starter. I swapped it out because I had an extra and the engine started to turn over. Now I'm on to the next problem...no spark on any cyls. I tried swapping out one of the. coils but to be honest I'm not sure if the one I swapped in was any good. What steps should I take now? I have never done trouble shooting on ignition problems for a motor this size before.

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Johnson Stinger

I used to love those Johnson Stinger Motors. I thought they looked so cool with the paint scheme. I had a friend with a 19' Mako and twin stingers. Engines were bullet-proof. Anyway, I would look hard at the power pack since you have no spark on any of the three cylinders.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Johnson Stinger

If you are electrically minded, you can check the ignition troubleshooting information for your engine at this website: cdielectronics.com Would be unusual for all 3 coils to go at once. That leaves the power pack, timer base and the stator as suspects.

 

[mgsolakis]

Re: Johnson Stinger

Hey so I had some free time this afternoon and I tried what you told be about the yellow black wire and still no spark anywhere. I had an extra powerpack and took a look at it and figured it would not be hard to swap out. So I did and sure enough I had spark. Put some gas in and she started right up and ran nicely at idle. The motor has a tell tale and I did not get any water out of that hole but it did come out of the exhaust. The motor did not run long but did not feel hot at all. My 75 Hustler does not even have a tell tale. Should I be worried about that?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Johnson Stinger

78 was the first year for the telltales. You should have water coming out of it once the engine starts. Possible the nozzle in the lower cowling has some dirt/debris in it. That's not uncommon. Run some weedwhacker string up the nozzle and see if you can clear it when it's idling. Or some compressed air. If the engine is actually a 77 and earlier, it won't have a telltale.

 

[mgsolakis]

Re: Johnson Stinger

There are still a few test I have to run but it's hard to believe the way this motor was mistreated by the previous owner that it started so easily. So the next question is about application is it possible/worth while to covert the Stinger from 20" to 15"? How much work is required? I assume I need a short shaft lower unit and mid section. Or is it better just to keep this one a long shaft a locate a separate short shaft.