40hp Force - No Spark in Nuetral

rhodeski

Recruit
Joined
Jun 4, 2018
Messages
2
Hi,
I have a '95 40hp Force on my Crest Pontoon that doesn't appear to have spark in Neutral.
I started it up like I always do.....take it out of gear and give it a little throttle....hit the primer a few times.....and it started right up as normal. Put it in neutral to let idle and instantly died. Didn't sputter or anything. Just died like I turned the key off. Did this several times then pulled it out of the water to investigate.
Checked spark with an inline tester in Neutral.....no spark on either cylinder. Take it out of gear and give it a little throttle and I have good spark on the bottom cylinder and intermittent spark on the top cylinder. When running the motor with a little throttle, the inline spark tester always shows good spark on the bottom cylinder and sometimes have good spark on the top cylinder and sometimes no spark on the top cylinder. It seems like when it's running, it's running on both cylinders. I bought a new inline tester just to be sure I don't have a tester issue and got the same exact results.
Ohm'd the trigger....ohms out perfect. Ohm'd the stator.....perfect. Disconnected the black/yellow wire to the switch box.....same symptoms. Disconnected the yellow wires to the regulator......same symptoms. Swapped the top and bottom coil/plug wires. Same exact results.
I jumped out the switch in the throttle handle just to be sure that had nothing to do with it. That switch doesn't even allow the motor to turn over when it's not in the correct state.
I haven't pulled the flywheel yet to physically investigate the trigger and stator but think that is my next step. I think the trigger could be my problem since that is the only thing moving when I put the throttle in different positions.
Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks!
 

pnwboat

Rear Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
4,251
Sure sounds like something may be wrong with the trigger wires. Maybe rubbed through the insulation exposing the bare wires and shorting to ground or other wires when you move the throttle.
 

rhodeski

Recruit
Joined
Jun 4, 2018
Messages
2
Well I replaced the trigger thinking that was it and no luck. Same issues. I took off the stator, regulator and switchbox so I could bench test them. Stator looks and ohms out perfect. I did a quick ohm check on the switchbox not knowing what to check for and found a direct short between the red/white wire and the black wire (gnd). The blue, blue/white, and red wires all have 5K ohm or more to the black wire. Does anyone know if that means I have a bad switchbox? Anyone know how to ohm out a switchbox? It has the forementioned wires plus black/yellow, green, and green/white.
 
Top