1978 85HP no/hard start, the rest of the story

[deac1234]

Ok, motor is VERY hard to star... used the 'approved' method posted here with little success.

What is does: Engine will crank and fire and starter will disengage and spin free. You have to release the key, and retry. This continues until you get lucky and it starts. After that, while warming it up, it doesn't sound quite right. When leaving the dock and speeding up, it will 'sputter' or miss for a few seconds then take off and run great the rest of the day.

A quick test with the spark gap tester showed the upper right cylinder has NO spark when the engine is cold. Disconnected and cleaned the two wire plug with the same result. Tried reversing the coil plug but got conflicting results. Reversing the connector still gave me no spark on the upper cylinder BUT on a whim I tried the lower again and it now had no spark. Messed with the connector a bit and got spark back on the lower cylinder AND the upper cylinder. ?? Going to try a new coil if I can find one locally...unless a reply here says I'm on the wrong track.

I really dislike intermittent issues!

Kerry

 

[oldcatamount]

Re: 1978 85HP no/hard start, the rest of the story

Sounds like you're on the right track. Let us know

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1978 85HP no/hard start, the rest of the story

Usually the ignition coils are pretty reliable, but it is possible you have a problem with one. Swapping them is a good way to test them-see if the problem moves with the coil. Best to eliminate them as a problem before you get into checking the stator, timer base and the power packs. An inductive timing light is a handy tool to check for the quality of spark on each plugwire.

 

[deac1234]

Re: 1978 85HP no/hard start, the rest of the story

Ok it wasn't the coil....got mislead by the cylinder/spark starting to work while I was testing things..

It WAS the power pack...cylinder was dead this morning, and for a change stayed that way. Reversed the power packs and problem moved to other bank. Replaced power pack and got spark on all four cylinders. Now if only this will fix the original hard starting problems.....we shall see....

 

[Ranger Danger]

Re: 1978 85HP no/hard start, the rest of the story

It's ridiculous how much better these outboards and start and run with all 4 cylinders going, especially when you get used to them starting on less.

I dealt with my outboard running on 2 cylinders for a long time, and when all 4 were running it was like a brand new outboard.

Best of luck.