1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

[xcmi3]

I have a '79 85 hp johnson outboard. i bought it in the spring and it ran well, it planed out fine and topped out at 4500 rpm under load. I ran it on the canal and a lake a few times and it wasn't until the last time i ran it on the lake that i had problems. It would bog down and die before i had a chance to put a load on the prop and i had to keep it at high idle while idling. saw the plug to the coil was bad, so i replaced it and i also took the carb apart and cleaned it, i knew it had a sticky needle. The next time i took it out, it wouldn't plane and the rpms topped out just over 2k rpm. I took it home and pulled the spark plugs. its only running off of two cylinders, the two right ones lookin at it from the back, opposite the starter. i pulled the plugs and it has really weak spark. I thought it might be the coil, swapped them around, no change, thought it was the coil pak, swapped it around, same thing. And thats as far as my knowledge goes on boat motors. Any suggestions?

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

I would replace all the spark plug leads. Since you found your coil wire was shot, there's a good chance your spark plug leads are bad too

 

[xcmi3]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

i replaced all the plugs already and swapped them around also. no difference.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

Not sure just what you meant when you said you swapped out the "coil pack". Perhaps you are referring to the power pack. Your engine has two identical power packs. Each pack controls the spark to one head. Swap them and see if the problem moves to the other head. If it does, replace the bad power pack. If you still get no fire on one head after you swapped them- you should look at the other two ignition components, the stator and timer base. You can find some good ignition troubleshooting information for your engine on the web at: http://www.cdielectronics.com/

 

[xcmi3]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

I swapped the coils meaning i moved a coil to a different cylinder, and i also swapped the two coil packs. Ill look into the stator and the timing base. Would that effect all the cylinders or could it affect just one bank?

 

[poacher19900]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

I swapped the coils meaning i moved a coil to a different cylinder, and i also swapped the two coil packs. Ill look into the stator and the timing base. Would that effect all the cylinders or could it affect just one bank?

i just lost two also it was my timer base.you can ohm out the stator and timer and will save some time

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1979 85 hp Johnson outboard not firing on all 4 cylinders

The coils affect each/one cyl. The power packs affect the spark to the plugs on one head or the other. The stator or timer base can affect any/all cyls.