Expert: Jeff Grigg - 8/17/2006

Question
Good morning Jeff,
  We switched the packs early on based on an opinion of another mechanic. Dad actually bought a new one. It was dead. Then we switched sides but the right side was still dead.So he has a new powerpack.  We did all that first.Then we did the stator thing, with the same results. Excuse me for repeating myself. I am curious though, why the left side showed higher voltage,the good side. The dead right side showed less than 500? A bad ground or ignition switch can cause that. Thanks Keith
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Jeff it is me again. I took a multi tester and plugged the leads into the trigger wires. Dad cranked on it. The side that fires read 1000v.it got there quickly. I then plugged the leads into thee side with no fire. Cranking for several seconds it finally read just under 400v. Does this show anything. Is it similiar to getting a peak voltage. I was not successful at getting the black  and yellow wire out of the pigtail. I was afraid it would be mutalated beyond use if I continued.
  I could not get spark to jump from the left side trigger over to the right powerpack. I took several attemps at it with no success. Thanks for all your support. I have boated off and on thru the years since the late 70s. Never had a glitch. I ran all v4 omcs have always thought they were the greatest. Still do this is just a little frustrating.
   Another subject. I have a hard time convincing Dad that the battery needs to be at full charge or very close. He will go and try and start the motor  but it won't start with the electric choke. He then has someone crank while he holds the manual choke closed and it will start. My thoughts are it is taking all the emergy to turn the starter leaving none or very little for ignition and the electric choke.
  I hate to see him take the cover off most of the time to engage the choke while someone else is turning the key. He is 81. I would like to see him make it easier on himself. He thinks he going to overcharge the battery. It is very hard to get him to charge it.
Who is being bullheaded here?
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Jeff, well we got the stator on. Guess what it is still dead on that side. We changed coils over and still dead. What now Thanks Keith
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Hi Jeff, They were my nephews. I am 54 with a 5yr and a 3yr old.ugh!!!I didn't do well in biology. Got the flywheel off.Keyway was not sheared.Took the stator off. Could see a charred spot on top on the inner side.  When I got the burned stuff off or out I could put my finger tip in it there was still material I could dig out but I stopped. I am guessing that was it. What would cause it to burn out like that? It was close to the wires that feed the power pack on that side. Could not find any bare wires. What should I look for now? Do stators just go bad like that? Thanks Keith

Answer -
Keith the stators generate a lot of electrical energy. They are essentially a number of coils around a common core. When they generate electricity they generate heat, after a period of time this heat can break down the internal windings and the potting material leading to corrosion etc.
Replace the stator with either a new unit from the OEM or from a company CDI/RAPAIR. I use the CDI/RAPAIR units with great success.
When you install the new stator use some red Loctite on the screws and don't over tighten.
Jeff

Answer -
Lets go back to the beginning Keith.
Since you found a burnt stator, it was not long for this world, so you didn't waste any $.
Check fire with a timing light, or spark tester, on all 4 cylinders. Lets say the right bank (1&3) was firing but the left bank (2&4) does not.
Remove the black/yellow wire from the connectors on both packs. If they now all fire then the problem is in the wiring to the packs. The blk/yel wire is the wire that grounds the ignition to shut the motor off. Be careful not to pull the wire out of the connector pin! Use a needle punch to push them back in later.
Remove both power packs and reverse them. What happens? If the problem follows the reverse then that pack is bad.
If the problem does not move, disconnect one pack and test them one at a time. Unplug it from the harness. What happens?
If both fire now it is in the packs, replace both of them.
If the problem is still the same now we must look at the timer base (trigger).
Typically we use a peak reading voltmeter to read each set of leads. Since you probably don't have the meter we must improvise. You will need to reverse the trigger wires from one pack to the other. If the problem is the timer base the problem will move. This should allow you to test the entire system as well as you can without specialized test tools.
Let me know how it turns out.
Jeff

Answer -
Keith, my father is 82, no your father isn't being hardheaded. He just has HIS WAY of doing things!
Seriously the battery should be a marine battery of correct size and fully charged.
I recommend using an automatic charger and charging at a rate of 2 amps. This puts a good slow charge on the battery, higher amp charging can be used as well but tends to put a surface charge on the battery. With todays chargers he shouldn't have to worry like the old days.

As for the ignition, your meter will not do the job. If you use a meter it must be a peak reading voltmeter. I also recommend getting a good service manual, preferably the OEM. You may find one on e-bay inexpensively.

Did you try switching the packs from side to side? If the problem moved it is the pack. IF not then either the timer base, stator or ground wire (blk/yel). I would be guessing the pack if no fire on only one bank.

Disconnect the big cannon plug at the motor on the wire harness. Using a jumper wire from the starter solenoid small terminal with the yellow wire to the large terminal going to the battery. The motor will turn over and if you now have spark, the wire harness in the boat or the ignition switch is the problem.
Let me know what you find.
Jeff

Answer
Put the new power pack on the side that works. Disconnect the power pack from the other side. Using a timing light make sure both cylinders on one side are firing.

Now take one of the old power packs and put it where the new pack was. If it now doesn't fire the pack is bad. Do the same with the remaining pack. If they don't fire throw them away and get a new pack.

Put the new pack on the side that wasn't firing. If it fires now you know the stator and timer base is OK. If no fire switch the coils. Still no fire, the stator or timer base isn't bad. Since you replaced the stator the timer base may be bad as well.

You can check the stator with an ohm meter. 450 to 600 ohms.
The timer base should put out 20 to 35 ohms. Anything drastically different is a bad timer base.

Any voltage readings not done with a peak reading voltmeter are no good.
Let me know.
Jeff