1994 XRI 150 No Spark On Port Side

[rickyk42]

I was cruising down the lake yesterday with the wife and out of nowhere the motor loses almost all power. The motor would still run but not have any more power than idle. If you tried to do more than idle it would make a loud intermittent knocking sound. We were able to limp back to the ramp at idle speed and load back up. After some trouble shooting today I discovered that there was no spark on any of the port side spark plugs. Does anybody have any ideas what the problem may be or how to fix it ? Any insight is much appreciated.

[JOE54]

test stator, possible switchbox failed

[EuropeanAM]

If you would, please Review the Announcements at the top of the Forum, and be sure to provide the Required Info when posting. Thanks!

Also check grounds for switchboxes (they are critical to proper operation).

[rickyk42]

Thank you both for your input. To test the stator do I need to take the corresponding colors off each power pack ? (Ex. The blue off the back pack and the blue/white off the front pack) ? And is here a way to test a power pack ? In the attached picture the circled cord is coming from the stator.

2A0EC121-95C8-4704-A7AA-89ACF7ABCE03.jpeg

[JOE54]

to test stator all wires need to be removed from both boxes, no ohm test for box= stator test good replace box

[rickyk42]

Was finally able to get out to the boat. The red to red/white tested out at 222 ohms. The blue to blue/white tested out at
7.2 K Ohms. I’m guessing this means the stator ? And if so that blue means the left side of the motor ?

[JOE54]

not the way you test stator ,test between red and blue and red/w and blue/w,between red and grnd and red/w and grnd

[rickyk42]

New measurements came back at:
Red and blue = 7.3 M Ohms
r/w and b/w = 8 M Ohms
red and ground = 111 ohms
r/w and ground = 9.7 M ohms

Do any of these results seem realistic ?

thanks again

[JOE54]

r/w-grnd don't if r-grnd is 111,r/w should be close, RICK swap places with boxes and see if problem follows box if it does box is bad

[OldTimer57]

Were these motors using two switch boxes like my '92 xr6? If so, then one of them going bad would wreck one side of the motor's spark. They were stacked on the port side of the motor IIRC, using the same mounting screws, just two deep.

[rickyk42]

Yes there are two power packs on the starboard side of the motor. They are stacked just like you described. I’m am going to switch the wires this evening and hope that may be the issue as it seems a little cheaper to fix.

[JOE54]

, cdm ign didn't show up on these till around 2000 or 01

[rickyk42]

It was a bit of a pain but switching the boxes switched the spark to the other side ! Looks like a bad switch box. I’ll put a couple on order and report back if that did the whole trick.

[OldTimer57]

my advice: go careful with the switch-over (check each wire twice). Then make CERTAIN you have good grounds for both. I had a much older merc 850 that a shop my dad used (YEARS ago) managed to leave the bolts that held the single (4 cylinder) switch box loose. No solid ground. Screwed up the timing pretty well and he ended up blowing a cylinder. Need good solid grounds. Remove paint as necessary to get 'em.

[JOE54]

[rickyk42]

Looks like the new switch boxes did the trick ! I went ahead and replaced both of them and it is amazing the difference in the motor. I was able to take it out yesterday evening for the first time since the switch box install and the motor is basically turn key now. Thank you all for your help and input !