Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 57 Johnson RDE 19 running on 1 cyl › Re: 57 Johnson RDE 19 running on 1 cyl
OK, lets start with the voltage regulator. That is not a voltage regulator in your picture, it is a starter solenoid. The fact that you installed a car solenoid is a whole ‘nother issue. You probably burned up the safety switch by using a car solenoid, but if you got it to work, let’s let it go at that. If you burned up the safety switch—well you won’t have that safety feature any more. Besides, it may have been burned up before you messed with it.
Forget all that for now, because it has nothing to do with your one-cylinder problem. There are two things you need to do first: A compression test, and a "real" spark test. Those neon bulb testers are worth next to nothing. You need to rig up a spark gap tester, whether it be a commercial unit or simply a phillips screwdriver stuck in the plug boot and held near a head bolt. The goal is to see if it will produce a spark capable of jumping a 1/4" gap. If it won’t, the next thing is to pull the flywheel to see why not. Experience says if the coils have not been replaced, they need to be. ALL 1957 Johnsons have bad (cracked) coils unless they have already been replaced. Of course, it may be something simpler & cheaper, such as dirty or worn out breaker points. Inspection and troubleshooting are in order.
BTW, when you put that flywheel back on, you MUST have the tapers clean and dry and you MUST use a torque wrench to tighten the nut to 60-65 Ft Lbs. Failure to do so may lead to extreme damage to crankshaft and flywheel.