No spark

[tony1969]

Hello
I have a Johnson seahorse 55 hp outboard
I tried starting it today and have no spark
The strange thing is when I take the pull cord off the kill switch And try starting it I get spark but no start obviously

Any pointers most grateful

Thanks Tony

 

[tony1969]

Hello
I have attached two photos The first is of two wires that go to the kill switch,the second photo show one of those wires going to ground and the other to a connector

When the two wires are attached to the kill switch and the lanyard is attached to the kill switch does anyone know if I should have a open or closed circuit

Thanks Tony

 

[Portofino]

On a 2 T dirt bike ( where you risk falling off ) its open .The kill works by grounding the coil .Coil gives spark .So if it’s grounded it won’t spark or if running stop .

Its not unknown for duff kill switches grounding the thing permanently = no spark .

 

[Portofino]

For running you need 3 things .Spark , fuel and compression.
Once you get spark then turn to the fuel side .Carbs left standing gum up , floats stick , needles gum , and sliders ( if it’s that type ) stick etc etc .

Can you smell fuel after a few pulls ? Has it got a choke or tickler ? .Is it fresh fuel as E 10 or what ever , they say goes stale within 6 weeks ? Ethanol absorbs water and it looses it volatility.
How’s the oil mix ratio ? ….……there’s a lot with the fuel to cock up .

Next up is the plug (s) some 2 T are very sensitive to the gap , so pull it and check that .

As you know plugs deteriorate as do the coils , sure they appear to give spark but it’s not strong enough.Any old spark is no good it has to be the right quality of spark .Otherwise it will fire , pop , bang and stall .

Then the cap ……check the wire in the plug cap .This connection can deteriorate with constant pulling it off .

 

[tony1969]

Thank you very much for the help

My dad bought the boat 2 years ago the engine was running fine at that time
Since then it's been removed from the boat and stored as he has been renovating the boat we put the outboard back on last week

we have wired up the engine with the same wire as previously a two wire push start button and a two wire kill switch

New fuel

Strangely the kill switch is in a closed state when the plastic clip is inserted in the lanyard i.e. Going to ground when starting I get no spark

If I remove the plastic clip on the kill switch it is in a open state and I get spark

Good old google tells me there are two types of kill switches one open and one closed state
So I'm not sure if I have a faulty kill switch or another problem

Spark plugs are new
Have fuel going to carbs

Thank again for your help

Tony

 

[lusitano]

"For running you need 3 things .Spark , fuel and compression."

That must be for a five stroke !
Two and Four strokes need air too

 

[Portofino]

"For running you need 3 things .Spark , fuel and compression."

That must be for a five stroke !
Two and Four strokes need air too

What do you think it’s compressing ? A vacuum ?

 

[lusitano]

Oh, sorry, I always thought that an IC engine required a good air supply before it could actually compress it

 

[spannerman]

Normally kill switches are open circuit for the engine to run. When the cord is pulled they close earthing the wire from the CD unit and killing the spark.

 

[tony1969]

Sorry for the late response
For some reason I wasn’t getting the notification of your posts

The kill switch was intermittently faulty

As most have said the kill switch should be in a closed state when the clip is removed shorting the engine to stop

Thank you very much