Just because it’s new

[bob-d]

Well I just spent my entire vacation chasing down a rough running situation  on my 1964 Evinrude 28HP. Initially thought it was carb related, but the problem came on and off like a switch, sometimes it ran fine, at other times couldn’t get the revs past 2000. At other times the revs would yo yo up and down. At this point I figured ignition.
I did not have a lot of tools with me on vacation, and was only able to check the resistance of the coils which was fine. I also was getting a spark across the plug electros when taken out and grounded to the motor. More head scratching. On my final day of vacation the motor barely ran. Got it out of the lake, and into a barrel. I put on a timing light and my bottom cylinder, and it was now totally dead. Well now at least I’m in the ballpark.
Got the motor home popped the flywheel, and dug into the magneto which had all new parts, coils, points, plugs,  ignition wires, and condensers. Was really puzzled, everything is new how could the be?
Yanked out the Merc O Tronic and low and behold the bottom coil (light green in color from a very reputable electronics manufacturer) was barely making a spark through the window of the tester. I guess there was some sort of short internally that caused the intermittent running. I never tested it initially, just popped it in and though I’m good to go.
I know it’s been said many times in this forum, don’t trust parts just because they are new…….now I know first hand.

Bob D

[fleetwin]

Does the bad new coil test OK with the ohm meter? I guess it is hard to know without having the resistance specs. You mention the coil will barely fire on the mercotronic, just wondering if there is an
obvious resistance issue. Sorry your vacation got messed up.

[bob-d]

Don, the secondary ohms where within spec. Is that the resistance test you were referring to?
Unfortunately the evil coil is already headed back to Amazon for a refund, so I can’t run any additional checks on it.
Yes it was pretty disappointing vacation after working all year on restoring the boat, and the motor. Sad thing was I had 4 good coils sitting in my workshop 300 miles away, along with my flywheel puller. Next summer a lot of my tools and spare parts just won an all expense paid vacation to the lake house.

Take care,
Bob D

 

[Bob Wight]

Beautiful rig – great job on the restoration.

Bob

1937 Champion D2C Deluxe Lite Twin
1954 Johnson CD-11
1955 Johnson QD-16
1957 Evinrude Fastwin 18
1957 Evinrude 3022
1958 Johnson QD-19
1958 Johnson FD-12
1959 Johnson QD-20

“Every 20 minute job is only a broken bolt away from a 3-day project.”
"Every time you remove a broken or seized bolt an angel gets his wings."

1 user thanked author for this post.

bob-d

[Monte NZ]

Fabulous job Bob!
Just like brand new!
Well done!

Monte NZ

[bob-d]

Thanks Bob and Monte. I never restored an aluminum boat before……….and probably never will again. Ha.

What a labor intensive job. For some reason the people over at Interlux paint want you to sand between every coat of paint and primer. Sanding around hundreds of rivets, on multiple coats is some hell of a job, never mind the cost of marine paints. The cream color bottom anti-fouling paint was $300 a gallon alone….yikes.  With 4 different colors on the boat, I’m afraid to add up all the paint bills. I did everything over on the boat, complete with a new mahogany transom from a lumberyard in Pennsylvania that supplies mahogany to Gibson for their guitar bodies.. I ended up spraying 10 coats of varnish on it. I even worked with Thomas over at Retropaints to find the correct color for the Simplex control box. It just went on and on. Dan Gano provided a nice original Evinrude  ignition switch plate for the dash as well.
Even though it didn’t run well, it did look great sitting in front of my camp!

Bob D

[crosbyman]

these coils from Amazon  seem to have high secondary resistance …around 9K  in some cases….I just have bad feelings  about those ….although  some  have apparently been  good.

older coils run 4-6k so why did they change the specs ??  cheaper copper  maybe…less than 99% pure  causing more ohms/foot … maybe not copper at all   anything is possible

anybody done surgery on a bad coil ???

 

 

 

 

Joining AOMCI has priviledges 🙂

[frankr]

Just like brand new.  Nah, better than new.

My eyes were drawn to the correctly installed steering.  Very few people get that right.  Now for the critical view—a non-swivel pulley on the port side will prevent that cable twisting.  Sorry for the negative comment on a 1000% perfect job.

[bob-d]

crosbyman wrote:

these coils from Amazon  seem to have high secondary resistance …around 9K  in some cases….I just have bad feelings  about those ….although  some  have apparently been  good.

older coils run 4-6k so why did they change the specs ??  cheaper copper  maybe…less than 99% pure  causing more ohms/foot … maybe not copper at all   anything is possible

anybody done surgery on a bad coil ???

 

 

 

 

Crosbyman the coils actually were CDI which I picked up through Amazon. I was surprised when I got a bum coil as they have a good reputation? Who knows what the supply chain is over in China. There are probably only one or two manufacturers that make the coils. The only differences is the specs that the customers require, and pay extra for.
I pulled both coils out and ordered some original OMC’s, but I’ve heard some members voice disappointing results with them as well. At least this time I’ll test them fully before I install.

Bob D

 

 

[bob-d]

frankr wrote:

Just like brand new.  Nah, better than new.

My eyes were drawn to the correctly installed steering.  Very few people get that right.  Now for the critical view—a non-swivel pulley on the port side will prevent that cable twisting.  Sorry for the negative comment on a 1000% perfect job.

Frank, don’t worry about the negative comment, it will only make the boat better for next year!
It’s funny you mentioned that because it was bugging the heck out of me as well. It only started getting twisted when I got the boat in the water and started to raising and lowering the motor. When I got home from vacation I picked up another original OMC set. The quality of the old original pulleys is so superior to the plastic stuff they are selling now.
Thanks for the compliment on the steering spring arrangement. I learned that from some guy called Frank on the AOMCI boards. When I got the boat it was rigged wrong with the usual two springs. I had read all of your posts over the years (complete with pictures) of the correct way to set up cable steering.
I knew I would be banished from the club if I didn’t set it up correctly!

Thanks,

Bob D

[Author]

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