1991 60hp VRO Evinrude - No Spark

[Demonical]

When I put the old girl away last Aug, she was purring like a kitten.

Just went to try to start it for the first time this year and don't seem to have any spark.

Pulled a plug, tested for spark to the block, none.

Is there a main fuse or something obvious that I should look for?

 

[racerone]

Charge the battery.----Then have battery load tested.

 

[Demonical]

Batteries fully charged.
No question I'm getting fuel.
I suspect the neutral pos'n switch.
I've got the batteries charging over-night then going to play with it tomorrow.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Best thing to do is unplug the harness back at the motor and jump the starter. If it starts, its in the control box.

But really though, could be many things. You will probably need to learn how to diagnose individual electrical components to find it.

Or take it to a pro.

Cheers

 

[racerone]

??---Neutral switch has to do with cranking the motor.----Nothing to do with preventing spark.

 

[flyingscott]

is the lanyard on?

 

[Demonical]

The lanyard doesn't seem to be out of position.
I was under the impression that the neutral posn switch could kill the ignition, but you're saying that's wrong, that a faulty switch would prevent cranking?

 

[racerone]

The starter motor does NOT engage if control is in forward or reverse.----The " man overboard " safety switch kills / prevents spark if not in proper position to run.----Sorry----There are many , many people who are unaware of the simple things you need to know to start / operate an outboard motor.

 

[Demonical]

Thnx Racer.
Yes very definitely no spark.
I watched a few YT vids trying to get a starting point to troubleshoot and one guy had said the neutral posn switch could kill ignition.
It's so obvious when you explain it, that that's not the case... same as neutral posn switch on an ATV.
So I'm going to start today by checking that man over-board kill switch.

 

[Demonical]

Aha! Blown fuse. Dirt simple fix and the engine runs great.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Yes, but why did it blow.....?

The saga may continue!

 

[Demonical]

Yes it's troubling not knowing what caused that, other than the fuse was 33 years old. I have to hope it was just 'old age'.
But the goofy thing is, my buddy was helping me troubleshoot the problem and he pulled that fuse, looked at it and pronounced it was good.
But obviously he didn't look at it closely enough.
And he looked at it so quickly I didn't even get a look at it before he put it back in.

 

[saltchuckmatt]

Always the "buddy"....did you throw him in front of the train?

Of course you did...,

 

[racerone]

Are you sure there is a fuse for the spark making system.

 

[Demonical]

Absolutely sure it was that fuse. The marine tech that diagnosed the problem returned the burnt fuse to me.
Again, the biggest concern to me was why did that fuse pop?

 

[racerone]

Part # of the ignition / spark fuse on your motor ?

 

[racerone]

Unless the motor was modified there is no fuse that can prevent spark if blown.----There is a fuse between the solenoid and the ignition switch.-----If that fuse was bad it would prevent the starter motor from cranking the motor over !

 

[Demonical]

Unless the motor was modified there is no fuse that can prevent spark if blown.----There is a fuse between the solenoid and the ignition switch.-----If that fuse was bad it would prevent the starter motor from cranking the motor over !

^ I can't answer that, all I can tell you is what happened.
The engine has never been modified other than disconnecting oil injection.

 

[Demonical]

I fired up the engine and shot brief video of the engine running but unfortunately it says the file is too large.
Anyway that small inline fuse in red retainer (5 amp I think) is what was blown.

 

[Demonical]

The fuse that was replaced was the small (5amp) inline fuse in that red retainer. Engine runs fine now.
I haven't had time to look up what the function of that particular circuit is, but I am sure gearheads on here will know.

I apologize for the double post...