1979 Evinrude 140 - No Spark

witty888

Cadet
Joined
May 12, 2013
Messages
6
Hi,
I am in the process of restoring a 72 Starcraft. It came with a 1979 140hp evinrude motor which I had planed on retiring. It looked pretty rough under the hood. I took it off the boat to replace the transom. The gentleman I purchased the boat from had rebuilt the carbs, but could not get spark. I decided to check the compression, and got all cylinders between 125 and 130. Now I'm thinking about putting it back on the boat if I can figure out the spark issue. It has new plugs. That is about the extent of my knowledge on the ignition system. I believe two of the coils are probably bad They are rusty. The other two coils look fairly new. I figure on replacing all four. None of the cylinders have spark. So my question is what is the next component to check or replace. My usual method is to start replacing cheapest to most expensive parts, but they are all pretty salty. So I was wondering if anyone more familiar with this motor might have any suggestions where to start.

Thanks, Dave Evinrude 140.JPG
 

emdsapmgr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Messages
11,551
Re: 1979 Evinrude 140 - No Spark

Unlikely all 4 coils are bad. So, you will have to look at the other ignition components: the power packs (one for each head), the stator and the timer base. That engine needs to turn over at least 225 to 250 rpm's when cranking to fire the ignition, so make sure your battery is up to the task. If you don't have a factory service manual, check this website for some good ignition troubleshooting information: cdielectronics.com
 
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