I know we have all aired this before, but I would be interested to hear others findings. The 61 10HP sportwin is near ready to fire up and try in a bin, its a minter..lovely.
It has spark on both pots, easy...by pull or spinning flywheel by hand even with plugs out. However....... both coils have a big crack on top in the wax, I have seen a lot worse believe me but obviously want doing in the end.
that's said, personally I have only ever had OMC coils that work or don't...........ie...spark and motor runs good or don't spark at all!
has anybody had them causing a misfire..sometimes spark, sometimes not? I wonder if these coils will under load let go?
I'd be inclined to change them I think purely because if they already have a crack in them they are only going to get worse. Plus you don't want them to finally give up when your in the middle of a harbour
I have an intermittent spark problem on my engine sometimes where it will run on one cylinder for a while normally after a long run flat out. I don't think it's caused by a coil though as mine are fairly new, I'd imagine its like you say they either go or they don't.
also found several times that the "new" coil all looks good but the coloured wax/plastic rubs off under the flywheel no matter how carefully they are centralized on the magneto.........so take flywheel off and clean all dust out after a run in the bin and then fine as it is only a little off the edges
I have a 1961 5.5 seahorse that I used to run on the Yarecraft on the canal. It became known as the garden motor, it would run fine at home in the tank but on the back of the boat it would miss fire cut out and generally be a pain as soon as you got far enough from the slip to make it uncomfortable to paddle the boat back.
Of course the trouble turned out to be the coils but it does prove that whilst cracked coils may work in the bucket they are not worth chancing spoiling your day out for.
I also have a fastwin 18 that had large cracks in the coil. I discovered these after I turned the flywheel by hand and could hear a ticking noise that turned out to be the coil windings arcing to the stator plate.
If I pick up an old OMC now I replace the coils as a matter of course whatever their visual condition.
Been caught out with the condenser wire too and also the wire coming out of the coil at the top rubbing on the fillet between the flywheel and it's hub causing a short.
reckon I'm with you guys, I do generally replace coils on any omc unless they are known recent ones. I was thinking of being a skinflint on the basis I may not keep the motor
latest news is, pulled away like mad tonight and it would not even cough! that said the plugs stayed dry even after trying a few squirts of fuel straight up the carb intake which is rather odd. Usually I find wet plugs after lots of failed starting attempts.
I expected it to miss like mad but not a splutter...not one pop
If a motor appears dead I take the plugs out and squirt a bit of fuel in to establish if it's fuel or spark, your dry plugs sound odd particularly as you have squirted the carb but it is probably still worth a squirt down the plugs to get it going and see what happens.
When starting my manual start 40 I give it full choke no throttle ignition off for two pulls then turn on the ignition, pull, and away she goes. Peter Allen gave me that tip and it has saved my shoulder a lot of grief over the years.
If the motor hasn't been run for a while I again take out the plugs and give it a squirt to increase my chances of an easy start particularly at club events when the slipway committee are watching
Just reading your post again and stating the obvious, you did have the choke off when you squirted the fuel up the intake didn't you?
yes choke was off when the fairy bottle of fuel came out had to be, air silencer with choke knob is still off so choke being manually held shut by a finger whilst I pull away
floater, you are right, I should put a dollop down the bores and try again! its got spark on both pots..checked it again.
I just want to run it before spending on coils etc....to prove its as strong as it seems, god powerhead, gearbox etc.
both coils have a big crack on top in the wax, I have seen a lot worse believe me but obviously want doing in the end.
