1988 Johnson 200 GT ( No Spark)

[Swift Auto]

Hello everyone, I have recently purchased a boat with a 1988 Johnson 200 gt motor on it. The motor turns over just fine but I am not getting sprk to the plugs. we do have poer to the motor from the switch. I was told from the guy it bought the boat from that he thinks it is a problem with the Stator. Any recommendations on checking the system before I just start getting into a parts buying game. Thanks, Allen

 

[terrywilson88]

Re: 1988 Johnson 200 GT ( No Spark)

It could be a number of things like coil, power pack a loose or broken wire. Try buying a manual. My manual is very user friendly and tells you how to trouble shoot.

 

[jonesg]

Re: 1988 Johnson 200 GT ( No Spark)

hands down , the best $45 you will spend on your boat is the factory service manual for that outboard.
www.outboardbooks.com

Some troubleshooting will point you in the right direction, if all cylinders are dead it very likely to be the kill switch wire, black and yellow is grounding out somewhere, usually at the ignition switch, under the dash.

Test it by disconnecting it at the engine by unplugging the big red harness plug under the cowl, its on the port side.
, now with all sparkplugs out and grounded to the block...
jump the starter solenoid.
You should get spark if thats the problem.

One other thing, test the black/yellow wire for stray voltage, if it gives any reading on a voltmeter it will kill the powerpack.
Things can get wild under the dash, make sure there are no bare wires or chafed insulation behind the ignition switch, it can knock out expensive ignition components on the engine.

Ain't boats fun?

And get the manual.!

 

[Swift Auto]

Re: 1988 Johnson 200 GT ( No Spark)

Thanks for the suggestions. This has been a nightmare. I did pick up the manual. and prior to that replaced ignition switch, power supply, stator, trigger switch. and after all that there is stil no spark. also I did unplug the harness and it made no change. anymore suggestions? Also we disconected the black wire with yellow tracer and still no spark.

 

[Greg_E]

Re: 1988 Johnson 200 GT ( No Spark)

When the key switch is turned off, the black and yellow wire is shorted to ground, killing the spark.

When you shift into gear, the shift interrrupt shorts the stbd bank of the power pack to ground momentarily, to make it easier to shift. A blocking diode in the interrupt sw. harness prevents the port side of the powerpack from also being shorted to ground, so for a split second, while you shift, the engine runs on 3 cylinders. That's how it's supposed to work.

If the black yellow wire is permanently shorted to ground, you will not get any spark.

Disconnect the battery, turn the key switch to ON, and using an Ohm meter, check to see if the black/yel wire is shorted to ground. If it is, you need to track down the cause of the short.

You can download a CDI troubleshooting manual here. It take a while to load, so be patient.
http://cdielectronics.com/Downloads/tabid/55/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

[dgoldfarb1957]

The link for a CDI troubleshooting manual appears to not be working.

 

[GA_Boater]

The link for a CDI troubleshooting manual appears to not be working.

What are we supposed to do about it? It's amazing what you can find by using Google.