Motor Trouble--Any Ideas?

[Nainu]

Catch, I have seen eagles catch and eat several seagulls over the years. One I recall watch hold the seagull down and pluck it while it was alive and then eat it. Nature is not as pretty as Walt Disney likes to portray it.

[nuipukawai]

Definitely late to this conversation, but just ran across it and thought I'd add my advise that no one else has covered. Two stroke engines by nature will usually have a build up of oil residue on the inside of the exhaust housing. If a thermostat gets stuck by corrosion, or defect, in the open position, the engine will run cool, and will emit much more unburned fuel than usual. This fuel will wash down the exhaust housing oil residue and produce black, oily deposits on the lower exhaust housing and gearcase. These engines have a 160' thermostat. If it is running at the proper temp., you can usually hold your hand on the thermostat cover for a few seconds before you have to remove it. Easy to check and change. Clean out any sand and junk while you're at it. These engines MUST have a properly operating thermostat for economy (!?), long life, and proper operation. Aloha, Steve.

[Catch 22]

Thanks! Very happy to report that I have put about 130 miles on the boat/motor in the last two weeks and have had no problems. Starts fast and clean, and has been running very well. Really looking forward to salmon season!

[hardee]

Not a mechanic here, but I have spent a considerable amount of time observing wild life. I have seen a Bald Eagle take a seagull right out of the air. Seagull was about 150 feet up, and eagle maybe 400 or more. I had been watching it circling, then all of a sudden, it basically folded in the wings and dropped like a rock. It hit that gull, and there was a burst of feathers, then took the gull all the way to the ground, dropping it about 10 feet above ground, flared and landed right on top of it. I doubt the gull ever knew what hit. Whole process, less than 7-8 seconds.

Kevin, Glad you got your motor running.

Harvey
SleepyC

[Catch 22]

So last time I had motor trouble I posted on here and quickly got the solution from fellow brats, so here is my new attempt to do the same.

Symptoms: Motor was running great, had been all season. Started fine, ran fine. Then, while cruising at about 70% throddle for about 10 minutes it shut off with no warning. No alarms, no sputtering, just like someone pulled the plug on anything electric. It would crank and turn over fine, but would not fire or even come close. We dug into it on the water a bit and as best we could tell it was getting fuel, getting oil, but no spark. None of the plugs would ark. I am guessing this is a computer/ ignition module/...

So my questions are:

What do you think it is?
How hard is it to fix?
How much does it cost to fix?
How do I confirm what the problem is?

Motor:
1998 2 stroke oil injected 90hp Johnson ocean runner.
As it is prime salmon season, I NEED to get back on the water asap. Any help or advice would be great, THANKS!

[digger]

Make sure the "dead-man" switch is still connected. If that pulled loose, the fix is free.

[Sea Wolf]

From the other thread @ 9:36:

[Catch 22]

Wow, I had not even thought of the kill switch, definately the next place to look. I feel like a jack ass for not having already thought of that, even if it proves not to be the probem...

[Catch 22]

DAMN-- no luck.

I got to the boat and found the safety lanyard disengaged and sitting next to the throddle box so I was very excited, thinking I would plug it back on and be good. However when I plugged it in nothing changed. I can crank and crank and crank but no spark, no pop. Here's what I know now.

Whether the lanyard is on or off, the motor does the same thing, cranks but will not fire. No spark

When the gear shifter is in gear it will not crank (as it shouldn't)

Question? should the motor crank but not fire when the lanyard is off? Could something be wrong with this switch? I find it very strange that the lanard was off (probably for the first time in 8 years) and now I am having a problem whether it is in or out. This motor has fired everytime I have cranked it for 8 years.

I pulled each spark plug and could see no spark when cranking. I can find no fuse that is blown, every harness connection appears to be in good standing

The motor cylinders are getting fuel (as it blows unburned out the cylinders when the spark plug is removed.)

I can barely stomach the idea of missing another weekend stuck at the dock. Any ideas? Anything else obvious I am missing? I am gonna take a volt meter down there tomorrow and see where the juice stops. My boat was actually auctioned off at a charity for a one day fishing trip in August so I gotta get this fixed. THANKS FOR ANY INPUT IN ADVANCE!

[Sea Wolf]

Kevin-

In all the engines I know about, the safety kill switch grounds out the ignition supply voltage to prevent the engine from starting, but the engine still cranks.

See if you can find the two wires going to and returning from that switch and test them with a voltmeter to see if they're grounded out at all times, or just when the switch is activated (when the lanyard and plastic "key") are removed. You should be able to tell if the switch is defective and permanently grounded out (closed).

Joe.

[Captains Cat]

If that's the first time it's been out in 8 years, it's probably just switch contacts. See if you can clean them or at least pull the switch on/off a bunch of times...

Chatlie

[Larry H]

If you have access to the back of the kill switch, trace the wires to a connector and disconnect the kill switch. Then, if the motor starts, you have found the problem.