'63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

[mellocj]

I bought an old boat with a '63 75hp evinrude, the previous owner said the engine ran 2-3 years ago. I put a battery on it, and it cranks OK. I don't seem to be getting a spark. I pulled one of the sparkplugs and held it to the block, no spark while cranking. I also put a voltmeter on the coil and got no voltage while cranking. What do I check next?<br /><br />Also, a related question. I just bought a '69 85hp Johnson outboard, it supposedly ran last year. I thought about swapping it onto my boat in place of the Evinrude, but I'm not sure if I can. The wiring harnesses look different. The Johnson has a big round wiring connector, the older Evinrude has just a bundle of wires. My evinrude does have electric control for fordward/neutral/reverse, so I think that should be compatible with the Johnson? Would swapping engines just be as simple as getting wiring diagrams and splicing? <br />The Johnson is just laying on my driveway right now, so I can't really check to see if it runs.<br /><br />Any help would be appreciated! thanks!<br /><br />Mark

 

[mellocj]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

To clarify, or add to my questions a little bit: The current '63 Evinrude setup has a black box located near the transom that has what looks to be a solenoid and some other wiring stuff in it. <br /><br />If I swapped the '69 Johnson engine on, would this sort of box still be needed? I saw a solenoid on the Johnson engine. If the wiring is simple, I don't mind splicing and soldering.. Like, for example, is there an external voltage regulator for the '69 Johnson? <br /><br />thanks again guys<br /><br />Mark

 

[alcan]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

Hi Melocj<br />This is just my opinion. First, all engines ran the last time they were used, or they were just rebuilt and now they don't run. Sound famaliar?<br />Ok you now have two non-running pieces of junk. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is, to find out which one you can make run the best. Since the 75hp is complete with proper wiring and controls, I would leave it that way. It should take you long to figure out whats wrong with it. As for your 85hp I would scrounge around until I found the correct control for that motor.Always try to keep things as solid as possable. Good luck, Lets get to work on that 75hp.

 

[mellocj]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

OK, thanks for the encouraging words alcan. How should I go about checking why the coil isn't getting power? thanks

 

[alcan]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

Hi Melocj<br />I just looked at some past posts. Did we ever realy determine what year model that thing was. I am at a loss, you describe no power to coil, I assume you are refering to an ignition coil (automotive type)? As far as I know in 1963 the ignition system was a magnito dist. You will need to do some research in your manual an determine what type ignition this engine has. I could not tell from the pic you posted as the ignit, was out of pic (at the end of that belt). The welch plug looks to be missing. I am not sure which years were what, but basicly there were three types of ignit, mag.dist, batt.dist. and CD\point.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

Since you mentioned electric shift on the 75, you have a distributor hanging on the back of the motor. You troubleshoot that just like an older car points ignition system. Check for corroded points, bad cond., or lack of voltage to the assembly, etc.<br /><br />The 85 cannot be used with the 75's controls, wiring, etc.

 

[mellocj]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

Yes, there is a distributor hanging off the back. There is a coil that looks like an automotive coil mounted behind the engine. I'll look through my book today and see exactly what year my stuff matches up to.<br /><br />I also got my 85hp Johnson hoisted up and am going to see if it will run. If so, I'd like to use it because it simply looks alot newer and like it has been maintained with more care. <br /><br />Thanks, I will post what I find and some more questions later..<br /><br />Mark

 

[CvilleNewbie]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

Mark,<br /><br />Seems I have the same problem as you....my 63 Evinrude 75Hp turns over but does not ignite...I cleaned the pulgs, points, rotor and it still does not ignite.<br /><br />I will keep watching your post to see if the suggestions people have are a help to me.<br /><br />By the way.....I feel your pain!<br /><br />And my wife is PO'd big time for us buying a used boat that won't start !<br /><br />Art

 

[ACE_TRANE]

Re: '63 75hp evinrude no spark, and johnson conversion questions

I have a 63' evinrude 75 hp that runs. it's takin me 2 fishing season to get it running good. If you don't have a generator or a altinator then the coil gets it power from the key switch which gets it's power from the hot side of your soleniod . If you have a motor that has a gen. or alt. when the motor is cranked over the coil gets the power from the key switch and after it is running it gets the power from the alt. or gen. though a black box (voltage regulator) in you control box. I would like to help you further but I just found out that my motor had the wrong ingnition switch and when I put a new one on it there where 2 wires that were disconnected. I should be receiving a manual for my motor anytime. I will help you then if you have anymore questions.