HELP 200 Rude XP Blowing CDI power packs

[mercguy]

Hello Mike.

Who is Sierra? I cant say Ive heard of them. Do you have any contact info?

I know NAPA, but they dont sell outboard parts - do they?

I will make sure the Amphenol connector is good and clean.

Thanks,
Rick

Sierra is the marine parts aftermarket company OWNED by NAPA. You can look at a catalog of their parts at the local NAPA store. I am not a big fan of Sierra parts (gaskets, carb kits, fuel stuff, etc), but never really purchased any electrical/ignition parts from them. RAPAIR is pretty much the best aftermarket supplier of ignition components and make ALOT of the ignition parts in current outboard motors.

[whaledog]

You need a peak reading volt meter and a service manual to check your ignition circuits.you have quick start on that engine .to check power pack output you also need adapters PL88.is the power pack output dead or just one coil primary wire.Get a factory johnrude service manual and study it.
Factory manuals are cheaper than throwing money at the wrong thing.
what area are you in.are their no good johnrude dealers?

[bajarick]

did the flywheel get replaced or was the magnet reglued back into place? Stator output I was refering to, is the 150V Bill mentioned, not charging output. Although, I have seen when the motor is overcharging heavily, I have seen p/p's get fried.

Mercguy,

There was only one magnet that was reglued. I will have to check the voltage at the brown wire. 14.2 is the charging voltage as regulated by the rectifier. The loose magnets created an over charge effect. I dont I have that problem this time around.

This power pack lasted 1-1/2 years - about a half year longer than the rest that were replaced. The last mechanic to work on it was a certifed marina mechanic. He said the burned up power pack had not been properly grounded. He was the first to mention this.

He put a good ground on this power pack and it lasted about six months longer than the rest.

Rick

[bajarick]

You need a peak reading volt meter and a service manual to check your ignition circuits.you have quick start on that engine .to check power pack output you also need adapters PL88.is the power pack output dead or just one coil primary wire.Get a factory johnrude service manual and study it.
Factory manuals are cheaper than throwing money at the wrong thing.
what area are you in.are their no good johnrude dealers?

Whaledog,

Dont have a repair manual - but its not a shop manual.

Dont have the adapters to check the power pack.

Powperpack is still firing two out of six cylinders.

I think in all my cases, only half the powerpack blew - never the whole thing.

Never had a problem with the coils.

Im in the Baltimore area. Marine Max were the last folks to work on it. They made it run the longest between episodes. Unfortunately, they wont service OMCs anymore.

I guess its time to switch over to a Merc!

[Bill Gohr]

Whoa, you're gonna switch over to a Merc because of powerpack failures? Welcome to the world of buying a pair of switch boxes.

You have a cause to a reoccuring problem which hasn't been located. Find that, fix the problem.

And your loose magnet never caused your pack to fail, that doesn't over charge anything.

Where are you anyway?

[Skoontz]

sells quite a few outboard parts. You just have to tell them what and ask, and it always helps to have a factory part number.

[bajarick]

Whoa, you're gonna switch over to a Merc because of powerpack failures? Welcome to the world of buying a pair of switch boxes.

You have a cause to a reoccuring problem which hasn't been located. Find that, fix the problem.

And your loose magnet never caused your pack to fail, that doesn't over charge anything.

Where are you anyway?

Bill,

I'd LOVE to find the problem and fix it.

If an outboard mechanic cant find the recurring problem.....I know I dont have the skills to find it.

I do the annual maintenance like plugs, lower unit oil, grease, fogging, and change the prop! But beyond that Im just switching out parts at best.

Its just getting expensive trying to find the problem.

Im in Baltimore. There are tons of mechanics here, but I dont know them from a can of paint! So far Ive had at least 3 different mechanics in charge of repairing my iginition - none of the repairs have lasted.

Do you know anyone in the Baltimore Area?

Thanks,
Rick

[bajarick]

sells quite a few outboard parts. You just have to tell them what and ask, and it always helps to have a factory part number.

Cool. Ill keep that in mind.

[DKL]

Does this model engine have the mercury switch that kills the ignition when the motor gets tilted to far up...? Some Mercury outboards have this and cause symptoms like you describe. The shop my son works at had a motor with a similar issue, powerpak appeared to be bad on one side ,,then the other,,,then both at same time ect. very frustrating ordeal. Took him a couple days to figure it out

Seems there is a switch that will short out the pak if the motor hits something and tilts to far up,, preventing a over rev situation.The switch was bad causing intermittant shorting of the packs

Could it be a similar situation

[bajarick]

Does this model engine have the mercury switch that kills the ignition when the motor gets tilted to far up...? Some Mercury outboards have this and cause symptoms like you describe. The shop my son works at had a motor with a similar issue, powerpak appeared to be bad on one side ,,then the other,,,then both at same time ect. very frustrating ordeal. Took him a couple days to figure it out

Seems there is a switch that will short out the pak if the motor hits something and tilts to far up,, preventing a over rev situation.The switch was bad causing intermittant shorting of the packs

Could it be a similar situation

DKL,

That is an interesting proposal.

Im not sure if my year / model (1989 chassis - 1993 powerhead) has the mercury switch???

That is one thing about all of this is that I NEVER had the entire power pack die! Its was always two or three cylinders firing.

I have a kill switch with the plastic lanyard on it. Id have to look inside the control box to try and see the actual switch.

In fact, during this episode of failure, I remember hearing an alarm sound when I started having problems this time. I just cant remember if it was a solid beep or beep beep beep. Ive been told low oil makes the beep beep beep while beeeeeeeeeeep is the overheating signal. Didnt know that at the time.

Regardless, the beeping stopped. I wasnt sure why it beeped but it made me check the oil reservoir and it was low but far from empty - the tank was at least 1/8 full (the oil in the reservoir was about an 1-1/2 inches deep - low but not empty). I have not filled it up either. I will make sure its full and see what happens.

Ill check the kill switch after that!

Thanks for your input.

Rick