No spark on a 50 hp OMC

A friend of mine has a 2-cyl 45" OMC on a jon boat. The motor has no spark. He assumed that because I race boats I could tell him how to troubleshoot it. He assumed wrong! On my Pro motors it is really simple, the flywheel magnet passes the pickup, the pickup energizes the coil, the coil fires the plug. But under the cowl of his motor there are wires and stuff all over the place. I have no idea where to even start.

Anybody out there have any suggestions where I should start?? Thanks - Tim Chance

Tim,

Go to CDI Ignition web site and you will find trouble shooting information on most outboard ignition systems. If you experience problems PM me and I can walk you thru it.

Ken Scoville
Boatwrx, LLC
ken@boatwrx.com
Boulder, CO

Go to CDI electronics , look under "Manuals and Guides" click on "Troubleshooting Guide" to open a very nice guide in how to troubleshot the ignition on lots of outboards ( it's a PDF fil, 2.4 MB big)


Arne Kjetil

Ask him the most used sentance in boat racing when an engine won't fire.

"IS THE KILL SWITCH TEATHER ON" :D:D:D

This should impress to him that you know what your talking about. Being a boat racer and all.

Good Luck!

If the kill switch is on, check all the grounds, then the hot leads. Still no spark on both cylinders is probably a power pack/ It would be pretty bizarre if the motor had no fire on both and coils and/or triggers were shot but, it is possible.

Was it running fine, then died, or was it sitting and first time out for the year?

Thanks for the help guys, I'm going to go over to his house and see if we can get it running. Bill, he says it was fine last year and then had no spark after sitting all winter. - Thanks, again - Tim Chance

Flywheel, to make sure the magnets have NO rust on em. A little can ruin the spark. sand them clean, if necessary . Sometimes we forget this.

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Originally Posted by Roy Hodges

Flywheel, to make sure the magnets have NO rust on em. A little can ruin the spark. sand them clean, if necessary . Sometimes we forget this.

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All good advise, especially the check the things that are free 1st. If you get none after those checks, the motor itself is always 'on' needing only motion to fire. To eliminate the switch/control harness you could check for spark by jumping it while unconnected. If both plugs dont fire its likely to be the primary pick-up or the power pack. [beyond a bad ground or rusted magnets] If 1 fires, by switcing the primary wires to the coils [& test] you can determine if both coils are good. If they are that would point to the power pak. Good Luck.