No spark on 89 Force 85HP

[ForceEightyFive]

Hello. I went out this past Sunday to fire up my Bayliner. I last started it 2 months ago with no problems. Spark was good because I checked it with an inline spark tester. Now, Im not getting any spark across all 3 cylinders. The starter felt hot. So did the negative battery cable at the battery terminal. Also the bendix got stuck on the flywheel. Ive already searched the forum and came with the procedures to test (kill switch, rectifier, flywheel magnets, etc, etc.) My question is will a faulty starter cause a no spark situation? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: Batterys good. Its getting fuel and the compressions good---120PSI across all 3

 

[tater76]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

No the starter will not kill your spark. Sounds like a kill switch issue, as the kill switch would ground out all three cylinders not allowing them to fire. Check all grounds, and other ignition wires for good connection, then test. Is the battery fully charged? this is a self energizing ignition, and the flywheel has to spin fairly fast to create a spark.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

No the starter will not kill your spark. Sounds like a kill switch issue, as the kill switch would ground out all three cylinders not allowing them to fire. Check all grounds, and other ignition wires for good connection, then test. Is the battery fully charged? this is a self energizing ignition, and the flywheel has to spin fairly fast to create a spark.

The battery is fully charged. I hope its just the kill switch. I havent had time to run through the troubleshooting but the kill switch will be the first thing I check. Wouldnt removing the the two wires from the kill switch and tying them together be sufficient to test the condition of the kill switch?

 

[pnwboat]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Connecting the two wires together on the Kill Switch will "engage" the Kill circuit. To test, you need to disconnect the wires from the Kill switch so that the Kill switch circuit is open.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Well after a busy work week, I finally installed a new starter and battery (had a bad cell after all) this morning. It fired right up. It was getting spark on all three. Went in to have lunch and came back out to start up again and had the same no spark situation. Checked the kill switch (pulled the kill wires at the packs) and the rectifier (disconnected the wires) but no go. Pulled the flywheel and the wrap around magnet had no cracks and was not loose. Flywheel key was not sheared. I looked at the stator and it LOOKED fine where there was no burnt coils or any signs of melting. No loose wires coming from the stator or anywhere else on the motor. I plan on going out and buying a multimeter to check ohms but from what I understand just because resistence checks out doesnt mean that the stator is internally shorting out. I doubt if its the power packs since if one of them was bad I would lose spark on one or two cylinders. Odds are that BOTH couldnt have gone bad at the same time, right? Would a bad stator or a bad trigger cause INTERMITENT no spark? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Maybe something acting up after it gets warm? Maybe the stator? It should be 680 - 850 OHMs. Check the stator resistance when it is stone cold. Check it after the motor has been run for a while. Compare the readings. They should be the same.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Maybe something acting up after it gets warm? Maybe the stator? It should be 680 - 850 OHMs. Check the stator resistance when it is stone cold. Check it after the motor has been run for a while. Compare the readings. They should be the same.

Well, I checked the resistence on my stator. I got no readings until I got to 2M. The values was outside the specified range if the stator was good. I assume I was suppose to get something at the 2K setting. At first I thought the new multimeter was faulty but it read 000 when i touched the probes plus I checked it on some resistors on an old circuit board I had lying around. I didnt get the chance to try to start the motor. Anyway, time for a new stator?

 

[jason32038]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Before you try and replace anything remove the single white wire from the terminal on the powerhead labeled magneto going to the wire harness. If it works good and consistent after that you need to look toward your ignition switch and or kill switch and wire connections. Removing the wires from your rectifier has nothing to do with spark. These stators need to be ohm tested at a certain range which a majority of ohmmeters dont support. I'm sure your stator is fine.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Just want to make sure you were checking the correct wires on the stator. You should be checking the blue and yellow wires that come out from under the flywheel. Disconnect the wires so that nothing else interferes with your readings. Check the front pair that go to the first CD module, then do the same for the other pair that goes to the other CD module. 2K setting on your meter is the correct range. 2M reading would indicate that the stator windings are bad.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Before you try and replace anything remove the single white wire from the terminal on the powerhead labeled magneto going to the wire harness. If it works good and consistent after that you need to look toward your ignition switch and or kill switch and wire connections. Removing the wires from your rectifier has nothing to do with spark. These stators need to be ohm tested at a certain range which a majority of ohmmeters dont support. I'm sure your stator is fine.

The only white wires I coud find on the motor were the two kill wires coming from the power packs, which I already tried. Are these the ones you mean?

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Just want to make sure you were checking the correct wires on the stator. You should be checking the blue and yellow wires that come out from under the flywheel. Disconnect the wires so that nothing else interferes with your readings. Check the front pair that go to the first CD module, then do the same for the other pair that goes to the other CD module. 2K setting on your meter is the correct range. 2M reading would indicate that the stator windings are bad.

Yes, I removed and tested blue and yellow wire pairs. Also to make sure I tested one blue to both yellow, etc. Still nothing. By the way I noticed that some of that stuff the stator coils are covered in splattered down onto the block, wiring, etc. Is this normal? See pic. Thanks.

 

[pnwboat]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

2M reading would indicate that the stator windings are open. Should read 680 - 850 OHMs. Your stator is bad. It is not normal to see the coating on the coils splattered down onto the block. I would guess that the stator winding got so hot that it melted the coating.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

2M reading would indicate that the stator windings are open. Should read 680 - 850 OHMs. Your stator is bad. It is not normal to see the coating on the coils splattered down onto the block. I would guess that the stator winding got so hot that it melted the coating.

New stator on its way. I was going to go with a used one from ebay which would have been less $$ but with any electrical part I prefer to buy new. Anyway I'll post again on how things turned out. Thanks.

 

[ForceEightyFive]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

It was the stator alright. I tested the new one out of the box and was getting a 740ohm reading at the 2K setting. Im getting good spark on all three now (seems to be brighter on my inline spark tester now then before). Ive been starting the engine everyday for the past 3 days to see if it remains starts and sparks consistently and it does. The old stator still reads nothing on the work bench. Anyway, thanks all!

 

[pnwboat]

Re: No spark on 89 Force 85HP

Great job! A few basic tests with your meter got you squared away.