1978 Evinrude 15HP no spark

[perchking]

I have had this motor for about 15 years, never had an issue.  Every year I replace the plugs and change lower unit oil.  I started it up this weekend, typically 2 pulls with choke added a few items to the boat, put it in reverse and it stalled and now has no spark.  When it died, it went "pffft" and that was it.  After pulling it for maybe 769 times, I gave up.  Being I was by self it was difficult to check for spark, so I did what every man would do.  I grabbed that plug and yanked on the rip cord:)  I am not sure if I was glad or not I didn't get shocked, but I am 100% sure there is no spark. 

So what do you think?

 

 

[delmuts]

I'm no expert, but had that happen years back. The stator had died.

[boatfixer]

does it have an emergency kill switch? (Lanyard) make sure it's connected properly if you haven't already. The rest of it you'd have to have a dva meter or a good ohm meter in order to test it. 

Frequently when you have a sudden ignition failure like you're describing, it's the powerpack or kill switch

[perchking]

so I went up this week and got decent spark from one plug and nothing on the other.  I think that rules out the kill switch issue doesn't it?  I just ordered a new set of coils, to my knowledge they have never been changed since 1978!!!

 

Thanks for the replies.

 

 

[perchking]

Well put in new coils and no change, I am guessing it's either the power pack or the points?  Very little spark on both coils, well I guess the 40 year old ones needed to be replaced anyway.

[boatfixer]

No points on that engine. More than likely looking at the power pack. Clean the ground first though

[perchking]

Thanks boatfixer, it was the powerpack.  All good now.