Re: Evinrude not firing on cyl 1 & 3
The purpose of the rectifer has to do with converting AC voltage to DC voltage which is required to charge the battery. It (rectifier) has nothing to do with the ignition.
To test the powerpack.......
With the spark plugs removed, rig up some type of spark tester whereas you can set a gap to be jumped. On the solid state OMC ignition systems from 1973 to the present (yours), set the gap to 7/16". The spark should jump the gap with a strong blue lightning like flame..... a real strong blue snap!
If there was no spark, disconnect the RED main electrical plug at the engine. Remove the s/plugs. crank the engine via the starter solenoid (jumper bat term to small 3/8" term nut, not the ground nut) and observe spark. If spark is now okay as stated above, the usual cause is a shorted ignition switch.
If the above checks out okay, you can usually assume that the powerpack is faulty, HOWEVER, visually check the stator under the flywheel.
The stator is a two fold purpose component. A series of coils provides AC voltage to the rectifier for battery charging purposes BUT there are two large black coils that provide AC voltage to the powerpack.
If the stator should be cracked and/or leaking a sticky substance down on the timer base area and powerhead, that would result in a voltage drop from two large black coils within the stator that normally provide approximately 300 AC volts to the powerpack capcitor. Obviously, if these two large black coils should fail, the powerpack, although it itself may be perfect, could not function properly.
Spark Tester - Home Made
(J. Reeves)
A spark tester can be made with a piece of 1x4 or 1x6, drive a couple nails through it, then bend the pointed ends at a right angle. You can then adjust the gap by simply twisting the nail(s). Solder a spark plug wire to one which you can connect to the spark plug boots, and a ground wire of some kind to the other to connect to the powerhead somewhere.
Using the above, one could easily build a spark tester whereas they could connect 2, 4, 6, or 8 cylinders all at one time. The ground nail being straight up, the others being bent, aimed at the ground nail. A typical 4 cylinder tester follows:
..........X1..........X2
.................X..(grd)
..........X3..........X4
