Yesterday I got stranded on the lake at dusk, we were headed back to the ramp and out of nowhere I lost power, pulled the throttle back to neutral and she died.
While drifting towards a nearby dock I had removed the cowl and air silencer. I could get it to idle roughly and noticed gas mist coming out of the bottom carb throat, so I figured I had lost spark on my bottom cylinder.
Today I picked up a spark tester and attempted to test by myself, the directions are vague on the packaging, but thanks to this forum I knew to set it to 7/16 gap. I plugged the SP wire onto the tester and then clipped the alligator clip on the SP. I could only get it to jump ~ 1/4 inch gap on both. The tester was resting on the lower cowling and I think I saw a spark jumping to the cowling as well, which would obviously effect its ability to jump the gap.
Do you guys hold the tester away from the motor w/insulated pliers and have someone else turn the key?? Should the alligator clip be on the plug?? I tried it clipped to the block and didn't get spark, but it was resting on the cowl and set to 7/16. If spark checks out, what's next? I was told by a buddy that I could have a problem with the reeds. Can the reeds be visually checked by removing the carbs? I saw them when I took the carbs off, but am unsure as to what to look for! broken/missing fingers??
Thanks guys, manual is on the way but I'm trying to go fishing this weekend!!!
While drifting towards a nearby dock I had removed the cowl and air silencer. I could get it to idle roughly and noticed gas mist coming out of the bottom carb throat, so I figured I had lost spark on my bottom cylinder.
Today I picked up a spark tester and attempted to test by myself, the directions are vague on the packaging, but thanks to this forum I knew to set it to 7/16 gap. I plugged the SP wire onto the tester and then clipped the alligator clip on the SP. I could only get it to jump ~ 1/4 inch gap on both. The tester was resting on the lower cowling and I think I saw a spark jumping to the cowling as well, which would obviously effect its ability to jump the gap.
Do you guys hold the tester away from the motor w/insulated pliers and have someone else turn the key?? Should the alligator clip be on the plug?? I tried it clipped to the block and didn't get spark, but it was resting on the cowl and set to 7/16. If spark checks out, what's next? I was told by a buddy that I could have a problem with the reeds. Can the reeds be visually checked by removing the carbs? I saw them when I took the carbs off, but am unsure as to what to look for! broken/missing fingers??
Thanks guys, manual is on the way but I'm trying to go fishing this weekend!!!
