Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Here's what happened and what I've done so far:
What happened: Was on the water going almost full throttle for about a mile...suddenly felt like I lost some power as the engine...boat and rpm slowed down to another level even though I did not increase/decrease the throttle. No bad vibration or 'bad' clanging sounds heard...just a drop in rpm. Continued for another 100 yards to the place I was going to anyway, and as I started to let off the gas the engine died and hasn't started since.
What I've checked and/or replaced:
Engine cranks ok, but just no spark. Got out the manual and installed in-line spark tester to watch for spark while I did these tests:
1. Performed the kill switch test (disconnected the kill switch wire) and cranked engine...still no spark
2. Performed the shift switch test (disconnected wire) and cranked engine...still no spark
3. At this point I just decided to take it to the local Evinrude dealer, but they said they were backed up for 4 WEEKS, meaning I had to put down a $85 deposit just to get on their 4 week waiting list
4. After talking to few other folks, they just kept repeating "power pack power pack"...so I bought a new power pack online and installed it...still no spark.
5. Went back to the manual and performed charge coil test...voltage output was ~150V on both wire harnesses coming from stator (manual says it should be greater than 130V). no wires are shorted . Resistance test results = 945 ohms, even though manual says that it should be 850+/-85 ohms. so far, I don't think being 10 ohms higher than the recommended range (945 vs 835 ohms) could cause the problem, but if anybody thinks this is the smoking gun, then it could mean a new stator.
6. Performed blocking diode check/test (diode built into wiring harness)..diode FAILED test...so replaced wiring harness with new harness with new diode in it..still no spark.
7. Performed timer base/sensor coil test: all ohmmeter tests were "pass" (no shorts, all ohm values ok), but voltage output was low. I'm supposed to see a spike greater than 200 mV during cranking per the manual, but the most I ever saw was 100 mV. So, I thought, "ok, the timer base is bad." So, I bought a new timer base and installed it...still no spark. The old timer base had part of its inner surface melted/eaten/shredded up into bits, so I surely thought that this would fix things. The stator looked normal when I looked at it when the flywheel was off (and I was changing timer bases). Also, the flywheel looked normal and no loose magnets.
8. Then I kept looking online and read that the engine needs 250 rpm or more to generate the voltage to create a spark..so I video recorded my flywheel turning/engine cranking and then went home and used my video editing software to play 2.0 seconds of the flywheel spinning in slow motion so I could count the revolutions. result = just under 4 revolutions per second, or only 220-240 rpm. So, I then thought that maybe the starter was the problem.
9. Voltage at starter terminals was 13.8 volts during cranking, which should be sufficient (meaning not a battery/cable/solenoid problem). I hooked a brand new battery directly to the starter terminals using jumper cables, but it still could not spin the engine fast enough (per video analysis). Bought and replaced the starter...still no spark and still no increase in engine cranking speed.
10. Tried to wiggle flywheel side to side thinking maybe upper/lower bearing was loose and flywheel was rubbing stator during cranking and causing added rotational friction, but flywheel tight/snug as a drum, so don't suspect any bad bearings.
11. Took off lower unit and looked at impeller to make sure it wasn't somehow in pieces or jammed and causing extra rotational friction...impeller ok/normal.
12 Disconnected wires from stator to rectifier and cranked engine...still no spark.
Repeated all electrical tests with the spark plug tester on one of the cylinders on the other bank, all test results the same (still no spark). Double checked all wire connections/grounds...still no spark. Can turn/rotate flywheel by hand with no problem. Engine cranks with no problem and sounds normal cranking (nothing banging around). Just "still no voltage greater than 200 mV coming out of timer base during cranking"....so still no spark.
Just wondering where I can look next while I still wait for the dealer to get around to me in the list (assuming I've given up by then). Basically the only part I haven't replaced is the stator, but again it's reading only 10 ohms higher than the spec and can generate the required amount of voltage (and it is a new stator anyway...replaced 4 yrs ago so newer than any other part on the engine).
Normally I would just wait for the dealer to get around to me, but the fish are biting NOW...so that explains all the effort to fix it myself. Ha.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and I'll try to answer any additional questions you guys may have.
What happened: Was on the water going almost full throttle for about a mile...suddenly felt like I lost some power as the engine...boat and rpm slowed down to another level even though I did not increase/decrease the throttle. No bad vibration or 'bad' clanging sounds heard...just a drop in rpm. Continued for another 100 yards to the place I was going to anyway, and as I started to let off the gas the engine died and hasn't started since.
What I've checked and/or replaced:
Engine cranks ok, but just no spark. Got out the manual and installed in-line spark tester to watch for spark while I did these tests:
1. Performed the kill switch test (disconnected the kill switch wire) and cranked engine...still no spark
2. Performed the shift switch test (disconnected wire) and cranked engine...still no spark
3. At this point I just decided to take it to the local Evinrude dealer, but they said they were backed up for 4 WEEKS, meaning I had to put down a $85 deposit just to get on their 4 week waiting list
4. After talking to few other folks, they just kept repeating "power pack power pack"...so I bought a new power pack online and installed it...still no spark.
5. Went back to the manual and performed charge coil test...voltage output was ~150V on both wire harnesses coming from stator (manual says it should be greater than 130V). no wires are shorted . Resistance test results = 945 ohms, even though manual says that it should be 850+/-85 ohms. so far, I don't think being 10 ohms higher than the recommended range (945 vs 835 ohms) could cause the problem, but if anybody thinks this is the smoking gun, then it could mean a new stator.
6. Performed blocking diode check/test (diode built into wiring harness)..diode FAILED test...so replaced wiring harness with new harness with new diode in it..still no spark.
7. Performed timer base/sensor coil test: all ohmmeter tests were "pass" (no shorts, all ohm values ok), but voltage output was low. I'm supposed to see a spike greater than 200 mV during cranking per the manual, but the most I ever saw was 100 mV. So, I thought, "ok, the timer base is bad." So, I bought a new timer base and installed it...still no spark. The old timer base had part of its inner surface melted/eaten/shredded up into bits, so I surely thought that this would fix things. The stator looked normal when I looked at it when the flywheel was off (and I was changing timer bases). Also, the flywheel looked normal and no loose magnets.
8. Then I kept looking online and read that the engine needs 250 rpm or more to generate the voltage to create a spark..so I video recorded my flywheel turning/engine cranking and then went home and used my video editing software to play 2.0 seconds of the flywheel spinning in slow motion so I could count the revolutions. result = just under 4 revolutions per second, or only 220-240 rpm. So, I then thought that maybe the starter was the problem.
9. Voltage at starter terminals was 13.8 volts during cranking, which should be sufficient (meaning not a battery/cable/solenoid problem). I hooked a brand new battery directly to the starter terminals using jumper cables, but it still could not spin the engine fast enough (per video analysis). Bought and replaced the starter...still no spark and still no increase in engine cranking speed.
10. Tried to wiggle flywheel side to side thinking maybe upper/lower bearing was loose and flywheel was rubbing stator during cranking and causing added rotational friction, but flywheel tight/snug as a drum, so don't suspect any bad bearings.
11. Took off lower unit and looked at impeller to make sure it wasn't somehow in pieces or jammed and causing extra rotational friction...impeller ok/normal.
12 Disconnected wires from stator to rectifier and cranked engine...still no spark.
Repeated all electrical tests with the spark plug tester on one of the cylinders on the other bank, all test results the same (still no spark). Double checked all wire connections/grounds...still no spark. Can turn/rotate flywheel by hand with no problem. Engine cranks with no problem and sounds normal cranking (nothing banging around). Just "still no voltage greater than 200 mV coming out of timer base during cranking"....so still no spark.
Just wondering where I can look next while I still wait for the dealer to get around to me in the list (assuming I've given up by then). Basically the only part I haven't replaced is the stator, but again it's reading only 10 ohms higher than the spec and can generate the required amount of voltage (and it is a new stator anyway...replaced 4 yrs ago so newer than any other part on the engine).
Normally I would just wait for the dealer to get around to me, but the fish are biting NOW...so that explains all the effort to fix it myself. Ha.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and I'll try to answer any additional questions you guys may have.