1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

[South Paw]

Question 1982 Johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim
Firstly let me say hello, I've been a long time lurker now first time poster and I can honestly say I've spent hour upon hour sifting through all the relevant threads lol.

A few weeks ago i launched my boat, she fired 2nd go as usual, i went to park the car and trailer and upon return my wife informed me the engine had stalled. OK I thought, well after 15 minutes of cranking with no luck i had to give up and clear the boat out of the way to make room for others, this is when i noticed the tilt/trim was also no longer functioning. Could this be pure coincidence?
After a couple of hours of messing about removing plugs and checking and cleaning and really i'm at a loss as to what helped but i had tilt and trim again but still no spark.
I took the advice of a friend who did a simple spark test and concluded it was the power pack. Shame on me for that as i have just waited two weeks for delivery of a new one to Australia and lo and behold still no luck and after raising and lowering the engine a few times today the t/t quit again
The old Johnno was running great prior to that fateful day.

Things I've done. I have replaced the power pack with a new OMC one. I have replaced the rectifier. I have checked that fuel is not the issue. I did a spark test using known working spark plugs and also new ones.

Here's a bit of info that may or may not mean much but with the fast idle lever up she will fire/run for a few seconds then die and a timing light has shown intermittent spark when it does this.
I now have a local guy telling me that his diagnosis is to replace the stator and timer base ($400). Now could they just fail suddenly? Could i have gotten a faulty power pack? Could an intermittent issue with the ignition switch or kill switch also affect the tilt/trim?
I can hear the relays clicking and I'd like to check the junction box bolted to the inside of the transom but looks like I have to bust the lid to see because the screw driver slots are too corroded and i cannot get a socket on them, is there anything in there such as a fuse that could be giving me grief? Oh i have also checked all fuses around the engine, cleaned all grounds i could find, battery has no trouble cranking either.
Could i try disconnecting the large red plug under the cowling and jump the engine as i have read in other threads. Can someone explain to me exactly how i do this as i don't want to blow anything or damage the threads with arching.

Sorry for the long post i just wanted to be as clear as i could. Thankyou for all and any help.

Just thought i would add this, i had the battery tested today, 12.98 volts, it was fully charged and 714 cca battery is rated at 650 cca.

Can i add, I have found it bloody frustrating when someone starts a thread and never comes back to let folks know how they went, good or bad, fixed or not lol

Wishing Joe Reeves lift on my street.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Ooops, that's lived

A belated Happy thanks giving from Australia.

 

[durban]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

if you hear the relays clicking then you have power there , next i would unplug the motor & check it with a multi meter or connect it direct to a battery if it deos not work then you have on open thermal swith in the motor that has not closed for current to go through , the stator can be a cause of no spark , cheers

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Thankyou Durban. I will try connecting direct to a battery as you have suggested. My next job is to remove the corroded screws that hold the junction box cover on.
That'll be my luck though, i lose spark and t/t goes the same time. I swear i'm cursed lol. Oh well, by the time this gets resolved i'll be at one with this outboard.
I have it booked in to a reputable local guy for the 13th of dec, but that was before the t/t went on the fritz again. I'll have to nut it out before then.
Thanks again.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Does anyone have a suggestion as to why it will run for a few seconds with the fast idle lever all the up?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Your year engine has two separate electrical systems, the engine and the trim. You can have power to one or the other, or both. Each has it's own small 20 amp fuse. The fuse for the trim is in that relay box. Sometimes the fuse holders get corroded and will not make proper electrical contact. Pull both fuses and check them for continuity and visually check their contact seats in both halves of the fuse holder. Your engine requires a minimum of 200 to 250 cranking rpm's in order to fire the ignition. Make sure your battery is well charged, even try another. Possible the key swtich is bad, or the control box wiring harness. You can unplug the red plug inside the engine cowling. That will remove the control box and harness from the engine-electronically speaking. You can then jump the engine starter direct with automotive jumper cables. When it cranks, check for spark. Weak electrical components tend to fail once they heat up to normal operating temps. Possible to have spark when the engine is cold, then fail once it warms up. Your ignition system is not really complicated on that engine. You can check this website for additional ignition troubleshooting: cdielectronics.com

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

emdsapmgr,
Thankyou very much for the reply. I found this pic from another member on here (thanks TashasDaddy)

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

I'm terrible at reading electrical diagrams, so where do i jump it? I'll use a fully charged heavy duty battery, and good jumper cables. Will the arching damage any threads?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

The black jumper cable goes to engine ground. The red jumper cable goes to the side terminal on the starter that has the short, heavy red cable going to it. It's the #8 in in Tas's drawing. So that you don't arc to the starter, you can connect the red wire to the starter, then touch the other end to the battery when testing.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

emdsapmgr,
Thank you very much for replying, that's just the tip i was looking for.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

UPDATE
PTT sorted. The relays and relay connectors badly corroded.

Remedy-Purchased a new PTT junction box assy and now it works like a charm.

Ignition will be attended to next week. Slow process but that what happens when life gets in the way.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

UPDATE
Safety lanyard kill switch fried. Installed new switch and all good.

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

For anybody reading this in the future do yourselves a favour, it may save you a bit of money. Out of all the ignition diagnosing the first test you should perform is the removal of the large red cannon plug to isolate the engine from the controls as in post #9.

Had i done that first it would have saved me the cost of a new power pack.

The replacement of the kill switch is a fiddly job, make no mistake as there is very little room to manoeuvre and very little wiring to spare to make the connection to the new switch as one wire is exposed and one has a small ring terminal.

 

[LongLine]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

South Paw - Thanx for the follow up. I'll remember this on on '84.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

You're welcome. It annoys me no end when i think that i've found a relevant thread only to find out the OP never came back to describe what was done to resolve the issue.

The CDI trouble shooting guide is very good as well as all the advice on here.

I also installed a new ignition switch whilst i had the remote control opened up because i had one on hand and it came with 2 keys, i never had a spare before.

 

[tomynoks]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Did you get the TT issue resolved? Mine is not working-- worked fine out on the lake a few weeks ago, then after I got her home, it hasn;t worked... The switch is ok... power to the switch... checked fuse... hmmm...?? How did yours turn out?

 

[South Paw]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

Did you get the TT issue resolved? Mine is not working-- worked fine out on the lake a few weeks ago, then after I got her home, it hasn;t worked... The switch is ok... power to the switch... checked fuse... hmmm...?? How did yours turn out?

UPDATE
PTT sorted. The relays and relay connectors badly corroded.

Remedy-Purchased a new PTT junction box assy and now it works like a charm.

Ignition will be attended to next week. Slow process but that what happens when life gets in the way.

As you can see i ended up replacing the PTT junction box. This is a black plastic box which houses the relays and a fuse. Mine was suffering from corrion to the relays, the connectors etc. The cover bolts were corroded so i had to drill off the heads. In the end i found a brand new one on ebay at a great price so it made life easier. It was a plug and play affair.
Maybe you could add your engine details and we can go from there. If you have the junction box, usually mounted at the back of the boat under the engine well or inside the transom area you can open it up and check the fuse and swap relays out. Mine were clicking to but were not putting out sufficient power or getting past the relay connectors.



This is what i had to replace, mine was in unusable condition, the fact it worked at all for a while is still a mystery to me, but this is to give you an idea of what i'm talking about and what to look for.

 

[RRitt]

Re: 1982 johnson 70hp no spark no tilt/trim

that little box causes more problems than it solves. the relay wiring scheme and color code is universal. Blue=up, green=down, fat red wire = starter battry, fat black wire = engine block ground.

It was invented by prestolite-chrysler-force-usmarine in the late 1980's using bosch headlights relays from detroit. It is extremely rare for 2w trim systems copying the USMarine design to have wiring problems (ever). Even 25 year old force engines rarely have problems other than corroded switches and worn out relays. This scheme is now the universal standard for 12v 2w reversible motors. The 5pin 12v relays are now a universal standard made by the billions for everything from car stereo to garage door openers to custom alarms. The relay comes with a mounting tab. To fit inside the evinrude box you use one with removable metal mounting tab.

Anyone with an evinrude box willing to make some minor mods should go with the non-boxed version. The cheap $30 chinese wiring harness is more reliable than the evinrude box. As further improvement, the ATC fuse in chinese models can be replaced with a $4 ATC circuit breaker. This prevents you from being stranded at the dock looking for a new fuse. The bosch relays mount onto starter bracket or engine pan using anything from #10 to 1/4" mounting screw. The best way is to use a pair of threaded holes and bolt them straight onto starter bracket. It would be entirely true to say that evinrude engineers took something simple and over-engineered it into something unreliable.