Help with idle and tach on 92 Fast Strike 150

I recently upgraded boat and motor from my old Javelin with GT 150 to a 92 Ranger with a 92 Johnson Fast Strike J150GLENC. A little back story - bought the boat knowing the tach was bad. Took it out on Friday to run it and get to know it. It had been setting since October (here in kansas) at the dealer so I put some Sea Foam in with Gas. It started but idle was rough and had to throttle up to keep it running. Ran good above idle, jumped on plane great, and top end ran like a dream but anytime I went back to idle it just didn't want to stay running. Bought a tach on Saturday for it and spoke to dealer about idle issue. Dealer gave me a can of BRP decarb cleaner and explained procedure. I installed the tach yesterday morning and did the decarb treatment with the dog ears on in the driveway. I also checked the timing arm and noticed there was a gap which I corrected. I noticed the brand new tach seemed to be acting erratically at first - didn't move off of 0 for the first couple minutes, then seemed to work accurately from there for the most part. The treatment made a big difference by last night and it seemed to idle great. The idle speed sounds better and it didn't act like it was sputtering or near dieing ever.

I've read a bunch on here about tach issues and a possible rectifier / VR issue as a culprit and the dealer had mentioned that if the tach doesn't work right we could be looking at a VR issue. I've got 10 days under warranty so I'm trying to pin point the issue and get it corrected before that time is up and I want to make sure I check the VR. From what I've gathered by reading previous posts is I can use a volt meter to check it. First I need to check the lead at Tach for 9v, then put it on battery and check to see if it's between 12.5 - 14 while running. Any other things to do to check it? I'm going to take it out tomorrow to the lake and see how the idle does "on the water" as well as perform any tests I can to check the VR.

The battery does have SS nuts on it but I will add the washers to it today as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice or help. Sorry for the short novel http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif

Sounds like you are on the right path. Make sure the pole setting on the tach is set for 6.

Ok - here's the update from yesterday's lake test. First the idle and motor in general. It did run noticably better when I first got on the lake when the air temperture was warmer. I fished for a bit then pulled up to the dock around 3:30 as it began to cool down. I let the motor idle for awhile and checked the voltage to the battery, at idle it was between 12.90 - 13.1, when I throttled up it went up to 13.5. I also put on the voltage information on the fish finder and at WOT it was reading 14.

Now to the tach. When I turn the key if the needle is up it does fall to O. I've noticed that sometimes at start up the tach doesn't move - then after a while it begins working (this is while still in neutral warming up). I did notice that once I put it in gear either backward or forward, the tach immediately dropped back down to 0 and didn't move. While running on the water periodically the tach would jump up to say 2K when I was probably running 4500 - 5000, then fall back to 0.

Here's the readings from the tach: the grey wire (send) was reading between .8 - 1 volt. The purple (ign) was between 12.5 - 13 at idle, the blue (LT) was around 7-8 volts.

Back to idle issue - after performing the volt readings I put everything back together and decided to run the boat around the lake a couple times before trailering up. By this point the air had probably cooled down 10 degrees to mid 40's. idle was noticably worse, died several times after going from WOT down to idle. noticed bulb is a little soft and having to pump it with arrow up and pump it between stops all day.

Here's what I did so far - checked timing arm and corrected. put on SS nuts and washers. Verified Tach set to 6p. Reset tach after initial testing. checked all wire connections to tach and checked that all nuts tight. Ran decarb. Added SeaFoam to new gas.

I have new set of plugs I picked up yesterday, haven't installed yet. It was dark when I got home last night so I haven't checked the timing arm to see if it's creeped back to a gap (is that an issue at all?) I did push in choke during rough idle a couple times and it caused the motor to die or almost die.

At this point I want to take the boat back to the dealer I bought it from to have them correct whatever issues the motor has but not sure what direction(s) to point them in. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif Any ideas on what the issue(s) are? Any input would be much appreciated! Thank you http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif


Modified by Ogdog at 2:38 PM 1/11/2012

Hey Josh, sounds like you need to get the boat back to the dealer. If you checked the voltage on the grey wire with a DC volt meter you have a problem. You should have no DC volts on the grey wire only AC volts checked with a peak reading volt meter. Just tell them what you have said here. Also do not use NGK spark plugs. Good luck. Jerry

I'm no whiz with the electric stuff - just put the tester on voltage and touched the leads to the various wires. Going to haul the boat to them tomorrow and hope they can get it figured out. I LOVE my new boat, just want the motor to be right. Thanks again http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Ok update on the motor - just spoke with the dealership and they said after testing it etc the power pack appears to be going bad. From what I read this should be a pretty easy unplug and plug job so I'm going to tackle it on my own unless they volunteer to do it for free since I bought the boat from them like that. Any tips on changing the power pack out?

Also does it seem like the diagnosis fits the symtoms? The powerpack is like the distributor I'm guessing, and it seems to me if it was going bad, I'd hear it and feel it at all speeds - not just bogging down at idle or after coming off WOT down to plane (which still takes a minute or so before it starts sputtering). The thing purrrs above idle - just find it hard that it would fire right at higher speeds and not a low. But like I mentioned above, I'm no expert.

I'm guessing this will solve my Tach issue - still have concerns there is an air leak in the fuel system - they didn't mention if they looked for that at all. The limp bulb has me concerned and it had them thinking we might be dealing with 2 issues. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/doh.gif

I would take it back to the dealer OR read up on how the OIS ignition system operates. Purple wire on the back of the tach is your switched B+ from the ignition switch. If the tach needle is pointing towards 1 and the key is turned to on it will (or should) zero it self. The light blue wire is for your gauge lights and should only be on if you have your running lights turned on. The gray wire is the ignition pulse and should be around 9 VDC when running and the black wire is ground. No the power pack is not like a distributor. It only fires when the pulses come from the timing disk and are read by the EET that signal is sent to the PP.

It's been at the dealer for a couple weeks now - I called to get an update and the guy who answered the phone gave me the good news that they believe it's a powerpack and they are working on getting me costs worked up but the guy who needs to do that was gone. Basically I'm just trying to weigh my options before I talk to them tomorrow morning and try to understand the issue(s) and have enough knowledge to ask the right questions so that when I hook up to the boat and take it to the lake the motor is right. You walked me through a water pump change and I am very comfortable in working on my own motors - I'm not familiar with the Electric side of things on outboards so excuse my ignorance there. When we started discussing the issues both on this board and at the dealer I heard it could be 2 things - rectifier / VR and or fuel issue. I bought the boat with a bad tach, bought a new one, and hooked it up exactly as you described. See notes from previous posts - tested voltage etc and conveyed all the information to the dealer.

I guess I'm asking for some expert opinion on if a powerpack going out could create the issues I've described with both the Tach not operating correctly and the rough idling issue. Your advice and opinion are both highly appreciated and valued. Thanks ChampioNman! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

Possibilities on the Tach, bad voltage regulator or bad computer on the VRO, or bad wiring to the tach. Very easy to check, if you have your boat at a good dealership, which obviously you do not. On the gap at the roller, more needs to be checked than just eliminating the gap. The timing and the carbs must open at the same time. Just get a good OEM manual for your motor, very easy to follow instructions on everything. On the power pack, it or the optical eye could cause your problem. The sync and link must be spot on for good idle. I would check idle timing and do a sync and link before I changed the power pack, unless of course they are willing to replace it for free. Good luck on that happening. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/smile.gif

If you do need a pack suggested retail for your is ~$348.00 If memory serves me correctly it will also come with an EET in the kit. As Jughead says it could be any of those components. For test purposes you could unplug the wire harness from the VRO and see if that changes things, just connect it back after troubleshooting if that isn't the issue.

Ok feeling better this morning about this. Spoke to dealership and they replaced powerpack already, no charge to me. They want to take it out on the lake and test before giving back to me to make sure everything is right. That is first class all the way and makes me feel very good about purchasing the boat from them. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Thank you guys for your help and feedback! Hope I get a chance to repay you for your help and kindness http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

A lot can happen between 6:57 PM and 7:36 AM in the land of OZ. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif