1956 Johnson 10hp Ignition Trouble

[bjarnold]

I have a 1956 Johnson 10 horse QD-17 that I installed new points, condensors, and coils today however it only sparks a few times on the #2 cylinder then quits. And #1 has nothing. I set the points at .020 and made sure that the points and coils are clean. Is there something I am missing???.Thanks

[R.Johnson]

Did you replace the spark plug leads? they could be aged cracked, and going to ground. Do you have the ends, or heel's of the coils even with the edge on the casting boss's of the mag. plate? This sets the air gap between the coil heel's and the magnets in the flywheel. The point cam is marked top, make sure this is facing up.

[bjarnold]

I did not replace the spark plug leads. The coils slip into a rubber boot which they are are on there. I checked and the point cam is on the right way.

[rwise]

did you set the points at there most open position? is there a kill switch on this unit? if it has a kill switch make sure the wires did not get pinched, smashed or otherwise shorted. just a thought.

[Chinewalker]

Hi Bill, You mentioned a rubber boot. Did you actually remove the wire and seat it into the hole in the coil or did you just slide the coil onto the plate with the wire where it was for the previous coil? I would remove the wires, replace them, and install the wire and boot onto the coil BEFORE installing the coil into the plate. The plate must be removed from the motor to do this. I suspect your wires aren't seated into the coil properly... Gap the points with the fiber rider aligned with the crankshaft keyway. No kill switch on a '56...- Scott

[Walker]

Also check each of the points gap on both lobes. I've seen plenty of those old motors where you get .020 on one lobe but only .010 or .015 on the other lobe.

[R.Johnson]

The breaker point cam on these engines only has one lobe

[Walker]

Oops

[bjarnold]

I checked it and sure enough the coil wires were not pressed in the coils all the way. I put them in and checked everything over and I now have spark on both cylinders. But I can only get the motor to backfire not run. Is there anything else?

[rwise]

they may be on the wrong cylander at this point try switching them.

[Chinewalker]

FRONT coil fires TOP cylinder. Holds true for ALL 2-cylinder Johnrudes that use a magneto ignition after 1952...- Scott

[bjarnold]

I messed around with it today and got it to fire and run for a second. At this point I am leaning in the direction of the carburetor. The motor has obviously been stored for years as the lower unit plug has all of the paint on it as well as the shift linkage cover screws.