With❤ all due respect, my understanding is that the TOP marking indicates the side you should slide in that cam, not its highest point. Anyway, the feeler approach remains very approximate, the timing tool gets it perfect and allows both coils to fire at exactly 180° one from the other which, in turn, will give you an ever so smooth idling engine. Belle persévérance mon ami !
I have the exact same motor, but the Johnson and I had problems with it throttling up all of last year. That explains everything because I set the timing on the points with the gauges. And it never ran right, thanks!
I'm a mechanic for a major airline with 35yrs of experience on aircraft. I would have sworn your problem was gonna be the spark wire. I worked in avionics for about 20yrs. I can tell you one of the hardest problems to find is when you get a faulty part from stock. You swap out a box and still have the same problem. Your mind says it can't be the box I just swapped so you start checking everything else . Then finally come back to the new part from stock that you just put in. Swap it out for another new part from stock and finally everything works as should. After trouble shooting for a couple of days. Makes ya want to go find the guy that put that box in service as a good part!!!
You are extremely patient Mike! I have a question....for the scope of motors you work on, 1950's through 1970's and 3 HP TO 18 HP, How many different timing tools do you need? Does that range of motors all use just one timing tool ? I was a "Helper Mechanic" at a Marina in the early 1980's and I remember that tool but I can't remember how many different ones we had...JUST CURIOUS....THANKS...GREAT VIDEO! Mark C.
Hi Mike, well that was an unexpected twist. I have a ‘72 4hp Johnson that runs but lately is hard to start. I don’t have a timing tool and set the ignition with feeler gauges. I have a couple of ‘Universal’ electronic ignition modules on order. These are primarily for small yard engines. Have you ever tried this? I’m not a stickler for originality. I just want my outboard to be more dependable. I know ‘Atom’ used to make a red ignition module for outboards, but they are unobtainable now days.
Seeing as I’ve already purchased them, I will fit them up and report back. I did fit the Atom ignition module years ago to an old 2 stroke lawn mower and it transformed it. Went from being a nightmare to start to a well behaved mower.
What a bugger! I want to make my own timing tool, but that requires knowing how many degrees of offset there are between the key-way on the shaft and the pointer. Could you measure that with a protractor and report back to us viewers? Thanks for another good video!
With❤ all due respect, my understanding is that the TOP marking indicates the side you should slide in that cam, not its highest point. Anyway, the feeler approach remains very approximate, the timing tool gets it perfect and allows both coils to fire at exactly 180° one from the other which, in turn, will give you an ever so smooth idling engine. Belle persévérance mon ami !
Thank you just what I need to check out a couple of motors I just picked up.
I have the exact same motor, but the Johnson and I had problems with it throttling up all of last year. That explains everything because I set the timing on the points with the gauges. And it never ran right, thanks!
I'm a mechanic for a major airline with 35yrs of experience on aircraft. I would have sworn your problem was gonna be the spark wire.
I worked in avionics for about 20yrs. I can tell you one of the hardest problems to find is when you get a faulty part from stock. You swap out a box and still have the same problem. Your mind says it can't be the box I just swapped so you start checking everything else . Then finally come back to the new part from stock that you just put in. Swap it out for another new part from stock and finally everything works as should. After trouble shooting for a couple of days. Makes ya want to go find the guy that put that box in service as a good part!!!
You are extremely patient Mike! I have a question....for the scope of motors you work on, 1950's through 1970's and 3 HP TO 18 HP, How many different timing tools do you need? Does that range of motors all use just one timing tool ? I was a "Helper Mechanic" at a Marina in the early 1980's and I remember that tool but I can't remember how many different ones we had...JUST CURIOUS....THANKS...GREAT VIDEO! Mark C.
T mike, PLEASE do a detailed vid on how to reset the recoil spring on the pull start for this motor.
Hi Mike, well that was an unexpected twist. I have a ‘72 4hp Johnson that runs but lately is hard to start. I don’t have a timing tool and set the ignition with feeler gauges. I have a couple of ‘Universal’ electronic ignition modules on order. These are primarily for small yard engines. Have you ever tried this? I’m not a stickler for originality. I just want my outboard to be more dependable. I know ‘Atom’ used to make a red ignition module for outboards, but they are unobtainable now days.
@@gregwilson9035 I would stick with points and set them correctly
Seeing as I’ve already purchased them, I will fit them up and report back. I did fit the Atom ignition module years ago to an old 2 stroke lawn mower and it transformed it. Went from being a nightmare to start to a well behaved mower.
What a bugger! I want to make my own timing tool, but that requires knowing how many degrees of offset there are between the key-way on the shaft and the pointer. Could you measure that with a protractor and report back to us viewers? Thanks for another good video!