No spark

[rcthd]

Hi, I have a 1977 spirit hp outboard (arctic cat) that has no spark. It was fine last fall when I put it away but this spring it has no spark, Any ideas? I left the motor on the boat so nothing was disconnected. I checked the plugs and they are fine.
Thanks Rick

[Borch]

I only bring this up because it happened to me. Does your outboard have a kill switch of some type. If it does, check to see if it was accidently tripped. I spend 45 minutes at a landing w/o spark. I checked everything, then I thought about the kill switch. Hit the button and turned the key still holding the plug wired with plug to see if it fixed the spark problem. Let's just say the jolt numbed my arm up to the shoulder for a few seconds. Hope it's that simple. Otherwise your talking a bad coil or master unit.

[delmuts]

you mite check ( i think it is called the rectifier) i had that go on a 25 merc. one minute it worked , the next it was dead.

[Scoot]

Two things that could be causing you problems- plug wires. I wouldn't mess around with them, just put new ones on. If that doesn't do it for you think about replacing the powerpacks. It's not tough to do and sounds like it could be your problem. The kill switch is also a good suggestion (and easier to fix too).
Scoot

[Scoot]

Rectifier??? I thought that was just another name for a proctologist!

[Borch]

Scoot, You're funny....

[rcthd]

It has a key switch. I checked that and could not find anything wrong with it. I have juice back to the motor to the wire box then it stops. I am not sure what the rectifier is. It has CDI ignition.

Thanks rick

[jkrash]

The rectifier is basicly what charges the battery, I would say it's probably one of two things, first and the easiest to change is the CDI box, if that's not it you probably need a pickup coil or stator which is located under the fly wheel. None of these parts are cheap, you can expect to pay $100.00 or so used for each one.
Good luck

[Guest]

it seems almost too dumb to mention, but a lot of motors have a small fuse, located inline somewhere around the engine. It is small, and hard to tell if its good unless you test it, good idea to replace that and see....

[rcthd]

I finally got it going today. It ended up being the cdi box

Thanks for the ideas
Rick