1986 85hp force 856X6L no spark

[Joe217]

1986 85hp force 856X6L no spark. How to test the stator? There is one set of yellow-blue going to the pack. When i set the meter leads from yellow to blue i get a reading of 704ohms . How should i test the one that has only a yellow wire? The stator is a prestolite FCC 3007.

 

[Nordin]

Check at outboardignitiondotcom, they have a troubleshoot chart for the ignition system.
You can check out the resistance with a VOM, but best is to have a DVA meter or a DVA adapter with the VOM and check the output voltage from the stator.

 

[jerryjerry05]

http://www.outboardignition.com/.
The Prestolite stator is probably the OEM
No fire on any cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from each blue to the yellow wires, you should read approximately 300 ohms. 2. Check the resistance from each blue and yellow wires to engine ground, you should read open circuit (Just like the leads were not touching anything). 3. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from blue to the yellow wires, you should read at least 180V. 4. Disconnect the stator wires and check the DVA (Peak voltage) from each blue and yellow wire to engine ground, you should read no voltage or extremely low voltage. No fire on one cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from the blue to the yellow wire on the pack not firing, you should read approximately 300 ohms. If the resistance is not right, check the other set of wires. If the other set is ok, gently pull on the wires close to the connector If the insulation stretches, the wire is broken inside the insulation and a new terminal needs to be put on. 2. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from the blue to the yellow wire, you should read at least 180V. NO FIRE ON TWO CYLINDERS: If two cylinders from the same CD unit will not fire, the problem is usually in the stator. Test per no fire any cylinder above. If the #1 and #3 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #3, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #3, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #1, replace the #2 pack. If the #2 and #4 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #4, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #4, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #2, replace the #2 pack

 

[killjoy]

http://www.outboardignition.com/.
The Prestolite stator is probably the OEM
No fire on any cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from each blue to the yellow wires, you should read approximately 300 ohms. 2. Check the resistance from each blue and yellow wires to engine ground, you should read open circuit (Just like the leads were not touching anything). 3. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from blue to the yellow wires, you should read at least 180V. 4. Disconnect the stator wires and check the DVA (Peak voltage) from each blue and yellow wire to engine ground, you should read no voltage or extremely low voltage. No fire on one cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from the blue to the yellow wire on the pack not firing, you should read approximately 300 ohms. If the resistance is not right, check the other set of wires. If the other set is ok, gently pull on the wires close to the connector If the insulation stretches, the wire is broken inside the insulation and a new terminal needs to be put on. 2. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from the blue to the yellow wire, you should read at least 180V. NO FIRE ON TWO CYLINDERS: If two cylinders from the same CD unit will not fire, the problem is usually in the stator. Test per no fire any cylinder above. If the #1 and #3 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #3, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #3, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #1, replace the #2 pack. If the #2 and #4 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #4, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #4, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #2, replace the #2 pack

How do I test the trigger and the power packs? I am having problems with no spark on a 1988 125 force.

We determined one side of the stator was bad with testing ohms (cylinders 2 and 4 had no spark). ordered a new cdi stator replacement. Installed and the boat fired up. was running ruff but attributed that to dirty carbs and motor. just bought the boat and I think it sat for a year or so. We took it to the lake, it was hard to get running but we did manage Kinda. Long story short after 45 minutes of repeated starting and the boat stalling out it would no longer fire up.

Today I messed with it more and have come to the conclusion I have no spark on any cylinder. With a test light, I can see power (flashes of light) at the rail where the stator wires and power pack wire meet. I am not seeing light on the tester for the cables feeding the coil packs. So my assumption is bad power packs, but I am not sure the way I tested it proved the power pack is bad.

We did a compression test on the cylinders today as well. All of them read 120psi

 

[jerryjerry05]

No spark all cylinders? Usually both packs don't go bad. More likely the stator is bad. Even new stator can be bad. You have a kill switch? Test that.

 

[killjoy]

No spark all cylinders? Usually both packs don't go bad. More likely the stator is bad. Even new stator can be bad. You have a kill switch? Test that

so i did re-test the stator it appears to be ok. how common is it for the ignition/trigger to go bad?

 

[jerryjerry05]

The whole trigger doesn't usually go bad.
Try swapping the packs around?
Check the flywheel key to see if it's sheared.

 

[killjoy]

The whole trigger doesn't usually go bad.
Try swapping the packs around?
Check the flywheel key to see if it's sheared.

will do thanks for all the info.

 

[Joe217]

http://www.outboardignition.com/.
The Prestolite stator is probably the OEM
No fire on any cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from each blue to the yellow wires, you should read approximately 300 ohms. 2. Check the resistance from each blue and yellow wires to engine ground, you should read open circuit (Just like the leads were not touching anything). 3. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from blue to the yellow wires, you should read at least 180V. 4. Disconnect the stator wires and check the DVA (Peak voltage) from each blue and yellow wire to engine ground, you should read no voltage or extremely low voltage. No fire on one cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from the blue to the yellow wire on the pack not firing, you should read approximately 300 ohms. If the resistance is not right, check the other set of wires. If the other set is ok, gently pull on the wires close to the connector If the insulation stretches, the wire is broken inside the insulation and a new terminal needs to be put on. 2. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from the blue to the yellow wire, you should read at least 180V. NO FIRE ON TWO CYLINDERS: If two cylinders from the same CD unit will not fire, the problem is usually in the stator. Test per no fire any cylinder above. If the #1 and #3 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #3, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #3, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #1, replace the #2 pack. If the #2 and #4 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #4, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #4, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #2, replace the #2 pack

Thank you for your reply. One section of the Stator was not working........... i had to replace the winding on those 5 posts.......started by hand........ after 200 loops i realized that it was not going to work........... made a litle machine and to my surprise it worked well....... 1450 loops per post of enamelled 0.11mm copper wire. At that point I put it all together and had bright spark on 3rd cylinder, and weak spark on 1st and 2nd.............. one of the cdi packs was the cause..... I have oredered a new cdi............ waiting for it...... I will give you an update once it is installed. The previous owner had a sealed battery ........... could that be why the stator and the cdi went?

 

[Joe217]

Thank you for your reply. One section of the Stator was not working........... i had to replace the winding on those 5 posts.......started by hand........ after 200 loops i realized that it was not going to work........... made a litle machine and to my surprise it worked well....... 1450 loops per post of enamelled 0.11mm copper wire. At that point I put it all together and had bright spark on 3rd cylinder, and weak spark on 1st and 2nd.............. one of the cdi packs was the cause..... I have oredered a new cdi............ waiting for it...... I will give you an update once it is installed. The previous owner had a sealed battery ........... could that be why a section of the stator and the cdi went?

 

[Joe217]

http://www.outboardignition.com/.
The Prestolite stator is probably the OEM
No fire on any cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from each blue to the yellow wires, you should read approximately 300 ohms. 2. Check the resistance from each blue and yellow wires to engine ground, you should read open circuit (Just like the leads were not touching anything). 3. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from blue to the yellow wires, you should read at least 180V. 4. Disconnect the stator wires and check the DVA (Peak voltage) from each blue and yellow wire to engine ground, you should read no voltage or extremely low voltage. No fire on one cylinder: 1. Check the resistance from the blue to the yellow wire on the pack not firing, you should read approximately 300 ohms. If the resistance is not right, check the other set of wires. If the other set is ok, gently pull on the wires close to the connector If the insulation stretches, the wire is broken inside the insulation and a new terminal needs to be put on. 2. Check DVA (Peak voltage) from the blue to the yellow wire, you should read at least 180V. NO FIRE ON TWO CYLINDERS: If two cylinders from the same CD unit will not fire, the problem is usually in the stator. Test per no fire any cylinder above. If the #1 and #3 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #3, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #3, disconnect the Brown/Yellow wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #1, replace the #2 pack. If the #2 and #4 cylinders are not firing, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #1 and retest. If you now get fire on #4, replace the #1 pack. If still no fire on #4, disconnect the Brown/Blue wire from the pack #2 and retest. If you now get fire on #2, replace the #2 pack

The attached pic has the right values for original prestolite components and the CDI replacement components. When Jerry, in item 1, mentions 300Ohms he is most likely referring to the values of the CDI stator. Are you Jerry?View attachment WhatsApp Video 2025-06-11 at 20.03.26.mp4

 

[jerryjerry05]

What I posted was the values for a CDI stator.
The OEM are much higher than the CDI. I believe(not positive) the OEM is around 800. I'd have to get my service manual out to double check.

 

[Joe217]

What I posted was the values for a CDI stator.
The OEM are much higher than the CDI. I believe(not positive) the OEM is around 800. I'd have to get my service manual out to double check.

OEM stator should be between 680-900Ohms............. My OEM reads 712Ohms and 793 Ohms the one I recoiled.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Good thing we can work on our own stuff. Otherwise I'd go broke.

 

[tg3690]

Good thing we can work on our own stuff.

In most cases, you HAVE to do your own work on these motors. The shops around here will not even look at an old Chrysler or Force, let alone do any work on them. If they can't plug in their laptop to give them a diagnostic code, they really don't want to mess with it. Old school trouble shooting is becoming a thing of the past. Thankfully there are sites like this to help out with trouble shooting and repairs.

 

[Joe217]

I installed the new pack. Now I have spark on 1 and 3....... #2 gets one spark as soon as the motor is cranked and nothing after. I switched the orange and red cables and the problem moved to cylinder 1. Is half of the pack gone?

 

[Nordin]

Sounds like you have one output channel at one CD module that is bad.
Each CD module has two output channels soo a two cylinder engine need one module, a three cylinder engine need two modules but one channel is not in use and a four cylinder need two modules and use all output channels.
Try to swap the modules and figure out if one channel is bad or not.
Maybe one module has both output channels workin,g than you can use one module for cylinder 1 and 2 and the other module for cylinder 3.
Using a VOM with DVA reading or with a DVA adapter you can measure if the stator output voltage is right and all the triggers output voltage are right.
If they are than you have bad modules if you have no spark at the plugs.
Usually ignition coils do not go bad often, from my experience CD modules fails more often.

 

[jerryjerry05]

I installed the new pack. Now I have spark on 1 and 3....... #2 gets one spark as soon as the motor is cranked and nothing after. I switched the orange and red cables and the problem moved to cylinder 1. Is half of the pack gone?

Yes you can loose half of the pack.'
Oh yea, you can test the stator and it shows GOOD but can be BAD

 

[Joe217]

i ordered a second new cdi pack. The stator passes both tests........ ohm and dva....... ???????????? I will keep on trying to figure it out.

 

[Joe217]

Sounds like you have one output channel at one CD module that is bad.
Each CD module has two output channels soo a two cylinder engine need one module, a three cylinder engine need two modules but one channel is not in use and a four cylinder need two modules and use all output channels.
Try to swap the modules and figure out if one channel is bad or not.
Maybe one module has both output channels workin,g than you can use one module for cylinder 1 and 2 and the other module for cylinder 3.
Using a VOM with DVA reading or with a DVA adapter you can measure if the stator output voltage is right and all the triggers output voltage are right.
If they are than you have bad modules if you have no spark at the plugs.
Usually ignition coils do not go bad often, from my experience CD modules fails more often.

I took apart the one cdi I replaced.......... the box is split into two distinct separate sections ..... each side has a huge capacitor......... stator output display correct values for both ohm and dva........ I am pretty sure it is the cdi....... because the issue follows the red wire that comes out of it...... the one that goes into the ignition coil........... swapping them and using the side of the cdi that works is a good idea!