TOPIC: 1965/68 Evinrude Ski Twin, ignition wiring issues.

Hi Everyone, and thanks in advance for your help.
I recently picked up a 1965-68 33HP Evinrude Ski Twin with an old aluminum runabout for cheap and I'm looking to ressurect it. The motor came with a wiring harness and keyed ignition switch but no key!

I decided that it would be really neat to have an all push button system for ignition, but I'm having trouble getting a spark and am reluctant to pull the flywheel and magneto until I'm sure my wiring is not the problem. I've never worked on outboards before but i have most of the tools, little to lose, and a great interest in getting this motor to go.

So far I have removed and cleaned the carb. and tested the starter motor and starter motor solenoid. and choke solenoid all okay. wiring those to separate push buttons was the easy part. tested those and they work.

I thought the magneto leads would be simple, run both to a push button, the circuit is open until you want to kill the engine. IS IT THAT SIMPLE?

Again, id rather not pull the flywheel and magneto unless I am sure that it needs to be done. I'm more afraid that I'll unwittingly damage or break something that I shouldnt have touched.

I am committed to finding a way to do this with buttons, rockers, switches. whatever, but no keys!
thanks for your input.

Herb.

forgot to mention, new spark plugs, properly gapped, and also tested resistance through the spark plug wires to ground during cranking of the motor, no reading came back in KiloOhms

Clean the points. If it has been sitting, it's about a 90 percent chance they will need cleaning.

The ignition coils will both be newer ones or both cracked.

---

It is an elegantly simple system to inspect / repair.----Pull the flywheel using a 3 bolt puller and inspect it all !!

Thanks, I will tackle this tonight and post back here

How important is it to use a lead additive/supplement in the fuel mix for these pre 1970's engines?? anyone?

There is no need for a lead additive for 2 stroke outboards, none whatsoever.

---

In fact in the " old days " there was marine white gas, no lead in it.

Finally got the flywheel off. It was a scary experience, used a harmonic balancer puller, and because the bolts that came with the puller were all to large in diameter, i had to buy some bolts & washers (1/4"). I was worried that the bolts i picked up would snap off flush with the top of the flywheel. I got to the point where i could barely turn the wrench with all of my strength to get the puller to get the flywheel loose. When the flywheel finally did let go of the crank shaft i was convinced i had snapped the bolts on the puller, but thankfully not.

Anyway, heres a pic of the breaker points , i was only able to get resistance down to 1ohm and stupid me I didn't check resistance before cleaning so i have no idea if it is an improvement. I used what i had to clean them, q-tips and sensor cleaner. I also tried soaking a piece of cardboard from the inside of a roll of paper towels. and rubbing it back and fourth between the points. Also performed a visual inspection of the coils and condensors. Discovered today that my new meter doesn't measure capacitance I used to have a real nice clamp on meter worth a couple hundred bucks, then I lent it to a guy at work and he quit and moved away!

I guess i should probably replace points but will try it out the way it is now first. -tomorrow after work, damn this fleeting summer sunlight. I'm going to have to start working with a trouble light if i want to make any real progress through the week.

That " u-shaped clip " that holds the spring is not installed the way it was at the factory.----Just a minor detail , it is always installed horizontally.---Are the coils cracked or were they replaced already ?

Thanks for pointing that out (clips), I believe one of the coils is newer than the other, no visible cracks when I had them off of the plate in my hands, some of the layers of metal on the yellow laminate were lifting and slightly separated on one side. there is no oiler wick that I can find, and the condensors look newer.

Should I be able to get continuity from the spark plug connector to the points? I cant get a reading in ohms.

Herb wrote:

Should I be able to get continuity from the spark plug connector to the points? I cant get a reading in ohms.

The spark plug wire goes to the secondary side of the coil; you should see 4K-7K ohms between the spark plug wire and ground.

The points are on the primary (low ohm) side of the coil.
You should see low resistance (around .7 ohms) across the open points (zero ohms could mean a shorted condenser).

Oh yeah, the coil only has three leads; both sides share a common ground.

www.duckworksmagazine.com/07/columns/max/articles.htm
is a good introduction to OMC outboards. They were issued as a book "Cheap Outboards"

Here's the one on magnetos:
www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/columns/max/07/index.htm

And another page on magnetos (3hp in this case, but they're all the same):
www.outboard-boat-motor-repair.com/Evinrude%203%20HP%20Lightwin%20Outboard%20Boat%20Motor/Evinrude%20Johnson%203%20HP%201952-1967%20Ignition%20System%20Tune-up.htm
(the page mentions silicone sealer-- I think they mean dielectric grease).

The green coil is the newer one.

Some folks prefer polishing the old points to using new ones (which may be inferior metal). They need to be CLEAN (no grit or grease).

No need for lead-- no valve seats!

Both coils have been replaced !----The green one may be aftermarket and the blue one may be an OMC replacement.

---

No need to go into testing the coils with an ohmeter.

---

Just make sure the points are clean and set at 0.020" to get spark.----You can use the timing marks found on the flywheel and magplate to do just a little better job of setting up the magneto.

Well its all back together but no spark on either cylinder I need an oiler wick anyway which i will have to buy a set of points just to get. hopefully new points will help, Im tempted to just get new coils and condensors too.

But what if its not the magneto?
Is there any chance the flywheel magnets are pooched? if i look at underside of the flywheel there appear to be 5 magnets. (2 on one side, and 3 opposite across the flywheel) If i move a piece of metal (a bolt) near the 2 it gets drawn to them, but the 3 magnets i cant feel a magnetic field.



Im having difficulty understanding timing as well, could that be a factor in this particular -no spark- problem?

it appears that the laminate was rubbing the inside of the flywheel , could that have cause this problem?

What to do?

There is only one magnet (with two poles) the mass on the other side is probably there to counterbalance the magnet.

Have you tested the coils and condensers with an ohm meter?

If you put in new points, make sure to clean them (sliding a clean biz card dipped in acetone between the closed points).

I don't tighten down the flywheel until I get a .25 inch blue spark on each coil roping it over (with just a rope on the flywheel). Much easier to pull it over with both plugs out, but make sure you ground the spark plug wire on the side you're not testing...

You can get plenty more coaching on the AOMCI forum:
www.aomci.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

sucess!

got a beauty of a spark nice and strong on both plug wires. I had cleaned the points earlier with eletronic sensor cleaner and q-tips but apparently that was not sufficient. We're past that now. 300 grit garnet based sandpaper, then running some brown paper off a grocery bag between the points to remove any grit or oil after sanding lightly.

I planned on just replacing the points but the budget for replacement magneto parts has dissapeared due to an unexpected truck repair to the tune of about $1200.

I havnt had a chance to put gas through it yet due to the fleeting evening sunlight.

Is there anything i can use in place of the oiler wick??? cant get one without buying new points (which would be ok if i hadnt just forked out 1200 bucks for my truck (brakes, control arms, wheel bearings YAY!) If there is no suitable long term substitue for an oiler wick I can order new points sometime this winter, but in the meantime what would happen if I ran the engine for a half hour or so on the lake without one. I'd like to see what else it might need and order everything together due to shipping cost of parts and their cross-border travel to Canada eh! If running the engine without an oiler wick means that ill wear out the points thats fine since ordering new points is the only way i know of to get an oiler wick. (I'll take a paddle with me lol)

thanks again all!

Where in Canada ?----Lots of shops around that would give you that oiler wick and the wee bracket.

---

A little dab of grease on the cam and no damage will be done to the rubbing blocks on the points , surely not in 1/2 hr of operation.

Kingston Ontario,
I'll be honest, I haven't checked with my local Evinrude dealer, I have no faith in the local guys.

I pop'd in to my local dealer today and they gave me an oiler wick FREE. Also told me he probably had everything I would need in the future for the engine. . Yay!

Run Rudy Run!,

I got the engine back together after work today and put some gas through it, finally we've Got it running!! the separate toggle switches are working for choke, starter & kill (magneto ground). No keyed ignition required. Now to get ol' Rudy dialed in.

It feels great to make this engine run, it may have been a decade since it last ran.

Thanks for all of your help.