1982 Johnson 90hp won't start and no sparks

[ib18]

I had a blast with my boat for 2.5 months after replacing my mercury 90hp with the Johnson 90hp. Good time don’t last forever.

I took my boat out 2 weeks ago, and started it and ran fine for about 1 mile on the water, shut off the Johnson outboard 90hp engine to drift for fishing. No fish after half an hour, so I started the motor and drove to a second location and fished for half an hour. No fish, so I started it up again without any problem, and drove to a third location and fished for half an hour. I tried to start the motor for the third time, but it won't start. I can hear it crank but it just won't turn over. So, I had to call the tow boat to get me back. I got home and hooked up the water hose and tried to start it up last week but it would not budge.

Started trouble shooting the non-start issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uekHC8FYr7M

1. Compression test was 120psi for all 4 cylinders – good.

2. I noticed a long fuse that was not fit for the Red fuse holder. The connection in the fuse holder was a bit rusted, so I cleaned it but it still would not start. The fuse is between the key switch plug and the starter solenoid. Fuse is fine just the wrong size for the Red fuse holder.

3. I checked the sparks with a spark tester but no sparks in any of the 4 plugs.

Bummer, I will check kill switch, power pack, stator, etc. More money and time to repair the motor - here we go again.

 

[Bosunsmate]

Clean up all your grounds.
Then disconnect your kill wire
Sounds like you have a short in that circuit
I just pull that big red plug apart and jump the solenoid to operate the starter with the plugs all out and I check for spark then.
Having plugs in will mean you wont get good spark if your starter is spinning to o slowly due to worn starter or low battery etc

 

[emdsapmgr]

The 20 amp fuse for your engine is a really short one. Unusual and maybe not sold everywhere. Your Bombardier dealer sells it under part number: 510884. The contacts inside that fuse holder must be clean, or the fuse holder won't transfer power to activate the starter solenoid. I think you mean that the engine cranks, but won't fire, but your comments are not clear. That engine must crank at least 250 rpm's in order for it to fire the ignition system. So make sure you have a strong battery that will spin it rapidly. Assuming that the key switch will activate the starter, that's good-indicates the starting system is working. If you still have no spark on any cyl, you may need to electrically troubleshoot the stator and timer base. Both of these ignition devices will normally output voltage when cranking. You can verify that by following troubleshooting tips at this excellent website: cdielectronics.com. I like the idea bosun has, of disconnecting the red plug wiring harness and trying to jump start the starter with a set of jumper cables. If you get spark when you unplug that large red plug, the problem is likely in the wiring harness or key switch. If key switches ever get rainwater in them, they can short out and cause problems-even though they have water drains.

 

[ib18]

fixed my Johnson 90 hp this past weekend by cleaning the ground terminals of all 4 ignition coils, and all 4 cylinders have sparks now. will try to start the motor this weekend,

 

[ib18]

Johnson outboard 90 hp 2015 cold start and motor running and kicking and back alive. It died on 10/3/2014. had to tow back.