Next victim 1998, Evinrude 150, Head O rings,J150EXECD

Chris1956

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Mar 25, 2004
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Bud, I spent hours and hours sanding down the head on my Nissan automobile, after kid ran it without antifreeze. "What temperature gauge?" he says. So I do have sympathy for your relationship with sandpaper.

On a related note: I did get the head good and flat, and upon reassembly, one of the cam shafts cracked. You cannot buy camshafts for that motor for some reason, so I ended up buying a remanufactured head with cams installed. All's well and $700 later, ends well.
 

racerone

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Dec 28, 2013
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Exactly.------On a warped aluminum cylinder head you can make the head gasket surface flat again.-----But on an overhead valve engine the cam shaft bearing are now out of line.---That is why the cam cracked !!-------A good machine shop would know this and then line bore the cam bearings.----This adds up in $$ and this is why engine rebuilding is becoming a " thing of the past " very quickly.------Factory with robots today can make new stuff a lot cheaper and quicker.
 

pastorbud

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Exactly.------On a warped aluminum cylinder head you can make the head gasket surface flat again.-----But on an overhead valve engine the cam shaft bearing are now out of line.---That is why the cam cracked !!-------A good machine shop would know this and then line bore the cam bearings.----This adds up in $$ and this is why engine rebuilding is becoming a " thing of the past " very quickly.------Factory with robots today can make new stuff a lot cheaper and quicker.

Sadly true. And everything is as light (aka flimsy) as possible to save shipping costs from China or South Korea.
 

pastorbud

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In happier news.... Boom!

#1 (the problem child!) 120
#2, 120
#3, 115
#4, 115
#5, 120
#6, 115

Thanks guys!
 

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pastorbud

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I hope to test spark tomorrow. As I remember it, when I checked about 18 months ago, it only had spark when I unplugged a connector at the top left side of the power pack.

And I have a real spark tester now. Is this model (J150EXECD) supposed to jump a 1/2” gap?
 

racerone

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Johnson / Evinrude electronic magneto ignitions from 1971 on to today are designed and able to jump a gap of 7/16" or more.-----Yes , many can spark across 5/8" gap.
 

pastorbud

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Jun 1, 2005
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Bud, I spent hours and hours sanding down the head on my Nissan automobile, after kid ran it without antifreeze. "What temperature gauge?" he says. So I do have sympathy for your relationship with sandpaper.

On a related note: I did get the head good and flat, and upon reassembly, one of the cam shafts cracked. You cannot buy camshafts for that motor for some reason, so I ended up buying a remanufactured head with cams installed. All's well and $700 later, ends well.

Thankfully them two-strokes don't need no stinkin' cam shafts!
 

pastorbud

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Jun 1, 2005
Messages
567
Johnson / Evinrude electronic magneto ignitions from 1971 on to today are designed and able to jump a gap of 7/16" or more.-----Yes , many can spark across 5/8" gap.

My Force outboard’s ignition system could be damaged if you fired a coil with no spark plug attached. I had to put (grounded) plugs on three coils and a tester on whichever coil I was testing.

Do I have to take the same precautions on the Johnson (J150EXECD)?
 

pastorbud

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My Force outboard’s ignition system could be damaged if you fired a coil with no spark plug attached. I had to put (grounded) plugs on three coils and a tester on whichever coil I was testing.

Do I have to take the same precautions on the Johnson (J150EXECD)?

DOH 😣 never mind. I see it in the manual. Helps to read instructions!
 

Faztbullet

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Where in manual does it say ignition will be damaged by not grounding??/?
 

pastorbud

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Where in manual does it say ignition will be damaged by not grounding??/?

When I wrote "
I see it in the manual", I meant I see the answer.
The "it" I was referring to was that you could test the spark individually with the other five plugs installed and connected. So what I meant was it WON'T damage the ignition. Or more accurately.... it doesn't seem to matter.

It's a big deal with Force CDI ignitions, but not with these, if I understand the manual.
 
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pastorbud

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Johnson / Evinrude electronic magneto ignitions from 1971 on to today are designed and able to jump a gap of 7/16" or more.-----Yes , many can spark across 5/8" gap.

I tested spark on numbers 2, 4, and 6 cylinders before the cold drove me back in. I only got spark across 1/4"-3/8" on all three. I noticed some corrosion on the ground wire to the rectifier/regulator, so I cleaned that up. No improvement.

The fact that it's on three coils makes me think it's a weak ground or a low voltage situation... somewhere.

I'm checking the CDI Electronics trouble shooting guide. Always open to suggestions!
 

pastorbud

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CDI sez I need at least 250 RPM to get a good spark test. The motor is off the boat and on a stand. Ima have to hook up a tach, somehow.
 

oldboat1

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Try for 300rpm. It's got to really spin -- which is why it's a good idea to test spark with all plugs removed. If successful, that would tell you the ignition output is good to go, but doesn't tell you the battery and starting circuit will do the job with plugs installed and ready to leave the dock. (But won't have to go through any more ignition testing!)

[edit. Guess an exception should be mentioned -- ignition parts may heat up, and may drop a cylinder when at high rpm.]
 
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Faztbullet

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Spark is always a tad weaker on port side of these engine during cranking. The stator coils for left and right bank are side by side and magnet field is interrupted. This is why they use a power coil and a 12V assist off starter solenoid
 

pastorbud

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I noticed there is a gasket under the rectifier/regulator... Is that thing water-cooled? It sits on top of the exhaust manifold.
 

pastorbud

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I got the plugs out and tried again. Same result: jumps just over 1/4” gap... this time on the right side.

I wanted to see if I was getting enough RPMs to create a good spark, so I removed the tach from the cockpit panel and wired it up with test clips. I got no reading at all. Tach needle didn’t move.

The grey wire is the signal wire right? I connected to it with an insulation-piercing probe. What number pin is the tach signal wire on the big red connector? I think I could get a better connection there.
 
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