Glitching ignition? (OMC & Johnson issue)

[Depp-erik]

Greetings from Sweden! My name is Erik and I have some issues with my boat. I would be really grateful if someone could help me!

Sometimes when I turn the key to fire up the engine nothing happens, not even the warning-beep sounds. But if I try a few times it suddenly works just the way it should. My (not so qualified guess) is that there must be some sort of glitch or some sort of corrosion in the ignition. Does anybody have an idea where and how I should start troubleshooting? It is an -94 OMC ignition/throttle controller and the engine is a -93 Johnson 70.

Second question. About two years back the oilpump failed and the pistons "jammed" the cylinders. After the engine was fixed we decided not to get a new oilpump but to mix the fuel/oil in the tank ourselves, but now the beeper has started to alarm with one single beep every minute (or so). If I don't remember all wrong I found out somewhere that this was the failcode for oilpump-failiure (and that would make sense, even though we never got any failcodes when we needed them). But since the problem is solved, is there any way to disconnect the beeper or in some other way shut it up? What would you recommend me to do?

Like I said, I would be really grateful if someone out there could help me with this and I hope my english is comprehensible!
Have a nice day! // Erik

 

[rotrax]

I strongly suspect that the ignition low tension is taken to earth when the switch is off.

It follows therefore that a bad earth, a bad switch or corrosion problems between them and the wireing could give the issues you are suffering.

Also, the tank the oil was held in will most likely have a low level warning. This could be why the buzzer is going if the tank is low or empty.

On another matter-compliments on your command of English. I can only dream of writing another language as well as you do.

I hope the above helps. Good Luck.

 

[NorthUp]

Another possibility for failing to turn over is the neutral safety switch in the engine control- try moving the throttle lever a few degrees back and fore with the keyswitch in the start position.

 

[VicS]

Greetings from Sweden! My name is Erik and I have some issues with my boat. I would be really grateful if someone could help me!


Like I said, I would be really grateful if someone out there could help me with this and I hope my english is comprehensible!
Have a nice day! // Erik

If you do not get sufficient help from the forum to solve your problems I suggest you register and post your questions on the Johnson and Evinrude board of the iBoats forums

http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards-24/

There are some real experts on Johnson and Evinrude outboards who use that forum.
Give the engine model number if you can, as well as the year and HP

 

[Depp-erik]

I strongly suspect that the ignition low tension is taken to earth when the switch is off.

It follows therefore that a bad earth, a bad switch or corrosion problems between them and the wireing could give the issues you are suffering.

Also, the tank the oil was held in will most likely have a low level warning. This could be why the buzzer is going if the tank is low or empty.

On another matter-compliments on your command of English. I can only dream of writing another language as well as you do.

I hope the above helps. Good Luck.

Thank you for your reply and your compliment!
I think I will try NorthUp's idea first just because it seems easiest but if that doesn't work I'll try to open the control box and look for corrosion. Is there anything particular I need to know before opening the box? Is there something about the construction that makes it tricky? Hidden screws?

About the oil, should I just fill up the tank or is there a simple way to deactivate the beep?

Another possibility for failing to turn over is the neutral safety switch in the engine control- try moving the throttle lever a few degrees back and fore with the keyswitch in the start position.

I'll try that! Thank you very much!

If you do not get sufficient help from the forum to solve your problems I suggest you register and post your questions on the Johnson and Evinrude board of the iBoats forums

http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards-24/

There are some real experts on Johnson and Evinrude outboards who use that forum.
Give the engine model number if you can, as well as the year and HP

Thanks for the advice! I'll check it out if I get stuck again.



Unfortunately I live a few hours away from where the boat is but as soon as I have the possibility to try your ideas I will, and I will post the results here!
Once again, thank you very much! // Erik

 

[Depp-erik]

I promised to get back here when we had started to work on the engine so here is the status.

First, thank you for the answers I got when I first posted this thread, I really appreciate them!

The ignition issue proved to be the battery getting weaker, even though it's not very old. What happened was that the starter motor didn't slide back after after cranking if the engine didn't start and the next time you turned the key it didn't have the power to turn the main reel and just clicked. Tried with a better battery today and, well, case closed on that one.

But another problem have surfaced during the summer, the engine responds very badly when you give it gas and just dies. After some troubleshooting we concluded that it MIGHT not combust properly on one of the cylinders. When unplugging the cord to the spark-plug one at a time while the engine is running there SEEMS to be a very small difference in operation when unplugging the top one compared to the others. But all the plugs give a good spark so we figure that this cylinder might not get fuel properly. We suspect the VRO pump causes this, since it caused the main issue the last time, is that a reasonable idea?

Tomorrows mission is to measure the compression in the cylinders (fingers crossed that we have good compression) and see if there is dirt in the carburetor and maybe try to bypass the VRO pump.

So this is where we are right now, any spontaneous ideas or tips are welcome!

Have a nice day! // Erik