1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

jrs_diesel

Chief Petty Officer
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552
My 86 9.9 died out on the water Saturday evening. Luckily I was still in the no wake zone and was able to bring it back to the dock with the help of a passing sailboat that was happy to give me a tow.

Cooling water was good, it did not overheat. Motor still spun easily with the rope start. Primer bulb was firm, plenty of fuel in the carb and the spark plugs where wet with fuel.

When it died it was like I had reached back and pulled the kill switch, it just shut off. I had just given it more throttle, I was approaching the end of the no wake zone and gave it a little more gas (approx 1600 RPMs) to get to the buoy a little quicker, and it just shut down. It's doesn't even fire or sputter when cranking it.

After I got it home I hooked it up to my spark tester and got no spark on either cylinder. Took some resistance readings, the trigger coil was at 39 Ohms, charge coil was around 150 Ohms. Neither one was shorted to ground so I don't think anything under the flywheel is bad. I tested the ignition coils and got about 1 Ohm between primary and ground, and about 265-280 Ohms between primary and secondary. I think that reading was a little low (supposed to be around 1300 Ohms I think), but I haven't touched the coils on this motor before. I had also cleaned all of the grounds and contacts for the power pack and the ignition coils and got no spark. The kill switch circuit is working normal too, so it is not the kill switches.

It sounds like my powerpack (which is the original one for this motor) is dead. I don't have a DVI adapter for my meter, and I'm not anywhere near the motor to take any other readings.

Does it sound like the powerpack is dead?
 

boobie

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Nov 5, 2009
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20,826
Re: 1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

As a "guess" without the proper testing, I'd say yes.
 

jrs_diesel

Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 3, 2010
Messages
552
Re: 1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

I plan on building a DVA adapter in the meantime before the next time I am home to confirm my suspicions and get the active readings. Something like that should be a piece of cake for me to build (I'm an electronics tech).

I also looked at the troubleshooting guide from CDI electronics and it seems that all of my coils (charge, ignition, and trigger) are in spec as far as resistance readings go. Just based on the passive readings, everything keeps pointing at the powerpack.

I think I am going to order a new powerpack and give that a try. Even if it is not that I will at least have a spare one.
 
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boobie

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Re: 1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

Let us know what you find ?
 

jrs_diesel

Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 3, 2010
Messages
552
Re: 1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

I ordered a new powerpack, one made by CDI Electronics. I also troubleshot a bit more with a Fluke 189 multimeter (has a built in fast peak hold function), and found my charge coil and trigger operating normally. After my son and I swapped out the power pack, we got spark again on both cylinders!

The troubleshooting sheet also had a few checks for the input diodes, so I checked out the old pack. Strangely all 4 input diodes checked out fine. That proves to me the need for a DVA adapter, or a meter that has it built in. You can't know for sure what is the problem on a CDI type ignition without all of the information.
 

boobie

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Re: 1986 Johnson 9.9 died while running, powerpack?

Thanks for the come back.
 
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