Johnson 1997 150 HP Will Not Stay Running

[Philn]

1997 Johnson 150 HP, looper with the standard OI ignition, will not stay running.
Turn the switch, motor fires and runs, let go of the key switch and it shuts down.
If you keep holding the key switch in the start position, motor contines to run normally.
Let go, it shuts off.
Tried removing all leads from the key switch (in case switch was shorting kill circuit somehow) and jumped the solonoid with a remote starter switch, does the same thing: runs, then shuts off when you disengage the remote switch.
Just put a new starter in, but ran all day once with no issues, started and stopped several times, so I think it was installed correctly.
Any ideas? Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

That motor feeds +12VDC from the battery to the powerpack only when the motor is cranking. If it runs only when cranking, perhaps the stator went bad. It would make sense to test it. See if the CDI Electronics web site has such a test.

 

[Philn]

CDI Troubleshooting for this engine said symptom of losing fire after release of key switch due to stator or power pack.
I happened to have an old power pack that would go intermittent after it got hot but works fine most of the time.
Put it in, problem solved. Sent the bad back pack to CDI for warranty replacement.