140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

[mbecke2]

I tested for spark today with spark gap tester and noticed I got spark for a few seconds and then no spark, then spark, then no spark. It keeps coming and going. I tried swapping coils and even put on a different powerpack and made no difference. I pulled the main red wire harness and jump started the motor and still spark was coming and going. I ruled out coils, ppack, and ignition/lanyard switch. Can a bad stator or timer base cause this spark issue of "coming and going". I also checked all ignition wires and grounds and everything seems fine. Guess I need to get that fly wheel off and get on it.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Don't rule out wire broken inside insulation. Check with a VOM while flexing the wires, one at a time (set on ohms scale, clip to each wire end.)

 

[Haffiman]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Is the engine running above above 3000RPM?
If not it might be that the power pack is 'locked' in SLOW.

 

[mbecke2]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Well when the engine runs, its runs just perfect. But when it doesn't it usually kills when put into gear. Then its hard to start and wont idle good. But I am getting intermittent spark when cranking so I think its a bad wire somewhere.

 

[jonesg]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Intermittent spark where? across all cyl's?
Disconnect the black/yellow kill wire at the powerpack and see if spark returns. Gotta be something simple goin on and hopefully cheap.

 

[mbecke2]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Yea its intermittent across all cylinders. I tried removing black yellow wire from ppack and made no difference. Still gettin intermittent spark on all 4. Its not coils and I dont think it is ppack. I thinks its the stator or timer base. Im leaning toward stator.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: 140 Johnson 1989 spark coming and going

Have you checked the wiring as suggested? Make sure to flex each one as you test them.