No power from the top 2 cylinders

[Robertjh]

I have a 1984 4 cylinder 50hp Mariner. I bought it a few years ago and have been fixing it up. I thought I had it ready to go but it misses, will not idle, and will not plane out. It is not making power on the top 2 cylinders. I have a new trigger, stator, plugs, and power pack. I have checked spark with three different testers and you can hear it if you pull the wires off with it running. I have 110 compression on all cylinders. I swapped the two carbs with no change. I also swapped ignition coils, no change. I have never broke an outboard engine down to inspect but I think thats my next step. I also wonder if its pulling air in somewhere. I tried spraying brake cleaner around on the engine but couldn't really tell it did anything. I thought it odd that spraying it in the top carb killed the engine. Any ideas???

 

[racerone]

Check wires from switch box to the coils.

 

[Robertjh]

Check wires from switch box to the coils.

The wires ohm out. All four are continuous. I didn't unhook them. All four plugs fire. One thing I can't figure out is the timing seems 180 degrees out. My light triggers 180 degrees from the pointer. All four cylinders are triggering the light in the correct order, but they are all 180 degrees from where they should be. I think it's me or my light though.

 

[Chris1956]

The outer flywheel can be put on the wrong way. That means the magnets may be in the wrong position to produce spark. Loosen the 8 bolts and rotate the outer flywheel 180* and recheck with timing light.

 

[Robertjh]

The outer flywheel can be put on the wrong way. That means the magnets may be in the wrong position to produce spark. Loosen the 8 bolts and rotate the outer flywheel 180* and recheck with timing light

 

[Robertjh]

It seems to run just like it was. I pulled the outer bolts and turned it 180. The light says its firing cylinder one at the pointer and 180 from the pointer . If I pull the plug wires off one at a time, one and two seem to have no effect, but when I pull three it dies. Four is hard to get to but it seem to be working the times I did pull it. The only things common to both top cylinders is the top carb and top half of the crankcase, correct?

 

[Robertjh]

I'm seeing the paint mark I put before I turned it 180. Maybe I got a bad new trigger?

 

[QBhoy]

Have you tested the coils warm ? What about the stator and regulator health ? Getting a charge back ok to the battery ?

 

[Chris1956]

Check your wiring. Check the trigger part number. A 6 cylinder would fire a cylinder at 180*, but your motor should not fire then.