Lunatic Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Well my awesome motor has kept me off the water yet again. if anyone can help or suggest anything im all ears and eyes! motor - 1990 20hp johnson pull start problem- started up ran fine for 10 min or so,parked it,next morning it wont start and hasnt since. problem - no spark replaced - charge coil,power pack problem - no spark only thing left are the two coils,but i have a really,really hard time believing 2 coils would die at the same time. i've looked over the wires and do not see any visible breaks. what am i missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) .. a broken wire to the stop button, or a faulty stop switch. Looking at wires does nothing, get an ohm meter on them to check for continuity. Edited October 12, 2013 by irishfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 .. a broken wire to the stop button, or a faulty stop switch. Looking at wires does nothing, get an ohm meter on them to check for continuity. oh ya,should have mentioned i did this. that was the first thing i did before throwing parts at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasinTails Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 does the engine try to start up when you pull the crank or does it just pull without any response Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 does the engine try to start up when you pull the crank or does it just pull without any response zero response ,no spark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 No spark, has to be a short in the kill switch wires or coils are gone. My bet would be a short in the kill switch wire. When you say no spark, how did you test for it? You need to test for a short in the kill switch wire. There might also be a safety where if the motor is in gear it won't start. That would be my second thing to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 No spark, has to be a short in the kill switch wires or coils are gone. My bet would be a short in the kill switch wire. When you say no spark, how did you test for it? You need to test for a short in the kill switch wire. There might also be a safety where if the motor is in gear it won't start. That would be my second thing to check. i checked the kill switch wire with ohm meter and it worked fine. i had motor in neutral,during all attempts.im pretty sure if its in gear it wont allow me to pull the cord,it locks up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Well, I still doubt that it is the coils. If you want to take a drive up to Lindsay I'll help you check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 tone z71 Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Kill switch or Stator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Kill switch or Stator doesnt the power pack and charge coil bolt to the stator plate? without those 2 parts its just a steel plate no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasinTails Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 zero response ,no spark id say coils are gone, you checked the battery and deep cycled it right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 you checked the battery and deep cycled it right Say what... it's a pull start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 tone z71 Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 doesnt the power pack and charge coil bolt to the stator plate? without those 2 parts its just a steel plate no? sorry yes im half asleep...magnets ok on the flywheel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Johnson. That's your problem. I had so many electrical problems with mine. Never again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mukluk Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Found this info on another board. Might be of some help to you 1990 20 hp Johnson igniton problems originally your engine had the UFI Ignition < at least one member fondly refers to it as the U Find It Ignition >.and OMC only used it for 4 years. The big difference in it and the usual CDI ignition on the 2 cylinder models is that the trigger sensor and powerpack are in a single unit and it's located under the flywheel along with the power coil. Prior to and after the 89 - 92 model years the powerpack was external to the flywheel < trigger sensor and power coil still under the flywheel>. You may have to get the OMC workshop manual to actually diagnose which component is failing. Marineengine dot com has diagrams of your motor. CDI electronics troubleshooting guide may also have a chart for diagnosing this system, but that's going to require a multimeter capable of reading dva.or a dva adapter for your mm. It's highly unlikely that both external coils would quit at the same time so I'd look to that powerpack/trigger combo, or the power coil.I'd be hesitant to tell you to replace either on mere speculation, however were it mine, I'd replace all the ignition components under the flywheel. If someone has already converted the UFI system and the power pack is mounted on the side of the block..post back and we'll look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Ironmaker Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 What I really love about this forum and the other I frequent, Stomps Long Point, everyone that is able is willing to help. It's great in these me, me, me times we live in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Say what... it's a pull start! :rofl2: :rofl2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pidge Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 (edited) Hey Lunatic although I don't know what the problem is with your motor I can point you to this website for help. Www.marineengine.com The website has every motor conceivably for boats and broken up by manufacture. Good luck. Pidge. Edited October 13, 2013 by pidge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChasinTails Posted October 13, 2013 Report Share Posted October 13, 2013 Say what... it's a pull start! i was half asleep my bad been fishing too long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2013 thats for all suggestions. i looked at an exploded diagram of my motor and the only electric parts left on the motor are the coils. as for the magnets they have a very slight score on them due to me putting the charge coil in and it rubbed up on the magnets,so the coil was replaced again as precaution. magnets seem fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunatic Posted October 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2013 Johnson. That's your problem. I had so many electrical problems with mine. Never again. ya im staring to feel the same way. might start looking into a newer yamaha for next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vance Posted October 15, 2013 Report Share Posted October 15, 2013 So your motor is 23 years old and you are going to switch brands,let me tell you there isn't anything in that motor that's in a new Johnson.Friends of mine have had the newer ones for 10 plus years of dead reliability and i want one. vance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish4Eyes Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 Maybe you have a faulty kill switch? You can try disconnecting the black/yellow wire that runs into the powerpack (the kill wire) to isolate the lanyard and stop switches. I would certainly do this and not just replace the switch. Start/stop switch cost me $200 for my 96 Evinrude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecmilley Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 yup undo the wires to the power pak that are black/yellow this should be the stop circuit, pull it over should spark if not, you most likely have a defective power pack/pick up even if new, did you use oem or aftermarket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bacon Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 So your motor is 23 years old and you are going to switch brands,let me tell you there isn't anything in that motor that's in a new Johnson.Friends of mine have had the newer ones for 10 plus years of dead reliability and i want one. vance I don't think there are any more new Johnson's as the brand has been discontinued. If any of your friends have a four stroke Johnson, then they are running a Suzuki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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