No Spark on lower cylinder

[evinrude36]

I have a 1960 evinrude lark 2 and it only has spark on the top cylinder. It runs good on the one cylinder but I really want to get the bottom working too. Before I started I had no spark on either cylinder so I replaced both coils, points, and condensers and gapped the points to .020. After I did that I got a nice blue spark on the top but nothing on the bottom. I'm thinking it might be the spark plug wire? What kind of tests can I do with my multimeter? Also, the coils that I got were a little different because the output spot that the spark plug wire hooks into was about twice as long as the other ones so I kind of had to force them in. Can I cut them shorter or will that just do more damage? Thanks!

 

[glassmaster68]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

try taking the black wire loose[its one of the two blacks coming thru armatuer plate] from the point set of the cyl not firing ,,,leave just coil and cond wire on,,,if you get fire then,,,,,,,trace the black wire to one of your cutoff switches,it will prob be the prob

 

[evinrude36]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

Is there a cutoff switch on this motor?

 

[glassmaster68]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

1960 40hp,yes its sup to have a cut out switch,the black from lower cyl points goes straight to cut out switch,the upper cyl points black from the key switch,the other black on key switch goes back to cut out switch making a complete circle basically,one of the grounded wires on the cut out switch goes to solenoid,the other grounded one goes to the safety switch[the black plastic switch that touches the back starboard side i think,of your armature plate,mine is a 66 lark,my cut out switch is on the back right side of the powerhead looking at the back of the motor under the safety switch,,i would suggest getting a manual,,it makes it a whole lot easier,check compression on that cyl,well both,before you do anything else,i understand thats the first thing to do in the old motor dept,check and double check your point gaps

 

[Willyclay]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

Is there a cutoff switch on this motor?

The link below is to a wiring diagram for your motor. It may help you find the problem.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s311/frankr_photos/Wiring1958_6135_40hpwithoutgenerato.jpg

 

[evinrude36]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

Thanks for the diagram. I think that may be the problem because the key switch does not work at all. The electric start works great though. I will look at it tonight. I do have a manual so I will also check that out tonight.

 

[evinrude36]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

Alright, I took both of the black wires off of the points and there was spark on the lower cylinder! But there was none on the top!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it, all I did was take the black wire off and took the spark plug wire out and put it back on the coil. Does anyone know what could be going on?

 

[lindy46]

Re: No Spark on lower cylinder

Sounds like a bad cut-out switch. That switch grounds out the lower cylinder in a runaway situation. You can test the switch with an ohmmeter. Switch should normally be open. When you apply vacuum to the hose, switch should close (and ground out the one set of points). As for the top cylinder, sounds like bad plug wire or bad wire connection. Replace the plug wires if they're old.