Losing Spark, where to Start

[diveman05]

have a 68 evinrude 55hp triumph. It will start up fine and idle fine. we putt around the lake at the start throttle for long periods of time, but as soon as i try throttling up it loses spark. What course of action should i take for troubleshooting. I had a local mechanic look at it and he wasn't too sure, the amplifier appears to be new from the previous owner along with coil spark plugs are new and the points are set at 0.010. It appears to be losing spark to all 3 plugs.

 

[boobie]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

Check the black/white wire coming from the amplifier to the points for any breaks in it or loose connections. Sounds like it has to do with timer base movement.

 

[diveman05]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

Check the black/white wire coming from the amplifier to the points for any breaks in it or loose connections. Sounds like it has to do with timer base movement.

will check once it stops raining. It appears the previous owner took pretty good care of it. The only electronic that looks original is the rectifier, could this have anything to do with the problem? same with the ignition switch. It works every time but you can tell its old.

 

[diveman05]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

Check the black/white wire coming from the amplifier to the points for any breaks in it or loose connections. Sounds like it has to do with timer base movement.

that wire appeared to be good direct from the amp. to where they disappear, however the ground from the block to where the wire disappears in the distributor was frayed where it connects to the block, it has a lot of extra so i am going to cut it shorter so it is a solid connection. I know this is probably a dumb question but what exactly does this wire do as far as for engine working.

 

[boobie]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

It creates a ground for the timer base where your points are located.

 

[F_R]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

The rectifier has nothing to do with it as long as it is keeping the battery charged.

 

[boobie]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

Edit.

 

[diveman05]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

It creates a ground for the timer base where your points are located.

That makes sense, so then in theory this ground wire that is frayed with no insulation could be faulty and replacing it with a good connection could create a stable ground and possible cause it to run at high rpms where there is probably more of a demand for steady current.

 

[diveman05]

Re: Losing Spark, where to Start

Found a small crack in the distributor cap, had someone check continuity though and it appeared good, does this sound suspect at higher RPMS?