1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

[gene5251969]

I'm not getting a spark on the wires on left bottom cylinder(#4) and top right cylinder (#1). The dist cap and both sets of pionts seem ok. Wires are in poor condition. I am experienced working on car engines but not outboard boat engines. What do I need to look for that would not allow spark? 2 and 3 have good strong spark.

 

[yorab]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Pull the distributor cap and look at the rotor and contact points. Be sure that they are electrically clean and that there are no signs of arcing. Also, check the points for surface pitting or burning. If they look good, make sure that they are adjusted to open to 0.020".

 

[Daviet]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Sounds like your gonna have to do something with those plug wires.

 

[gene5251969]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

I put in new plugs and replaced plug wire ends. I have strong spark on 3 cylinders and one with a very weak spark. being on sunday marine.store was closed and I bought a plug wire from a aoto parts store. It wasnt a metal core wire, a regular resistor type for a car, now no spark at all from #4. Do marine engines have to be specific on wire core type? I havent checked gap on points yet, they do appear new.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Normally OB plug wires are stranded metal. Merc uses Stainless steel. I am not sure what OMC used. I would vote for SS if you can get it.

Check the point gap, before you do anything else. Swap the original wires around and see if spark problem follows #4 wire.

 

[F_R]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Wires are supposed to be stranded copper, not auto resistance wire. How wide a gap are you trying ot make it jump? Expecting too much can result in arcing through the rotor to the shaft, destroying the rotor.

 

[gene5251969]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

I am a truck driver, will be this weekend before I can look at engine again. I do believe points gap is much wider than .020, I was pulling plug wires off about an inch to see if spark was able to jump to plug. #4 wont jump at all. I will swap #4 wire out with a different wire that is working to see. I threw away ths car wire. My local boat store is unsure about having the wire ends that screw into the distributor. On the lower unit I see a place that says oil level, is that where the oil goes? I took the screw out and oil wouldnt go in, just ran all down on the ground. Its an electric shift.

 

[freddyray21]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Normally OB plug wires are stranded metal. Merc uses Stainless steel. I am not sure what OMC used. I would vote for SS if you can get it.

Check the point gap, before you do anything else. Swap the original wires around and see if spark problem follows #4 wire.

would not be the point gap if he has fire on three cylinders. That dist has two sets of points. One set fires one and three and the other set fires two and four. If he is getting fire on two then four should fire as well. I am betting bad plug wire or possible bad cap. Ouch if it's a bad cap they are not cheap.

 

[gene5251969]

Re: 1963 Evinrude 75 horse V-4 starflite no spark on 2 cylinders

Ended up being bad wire. Points however were gapped at .035, after I set them to .020 the engine starts easier, idles smoother and is more responsive.