Reply To: 4266 Evinrude 1.1 hp

[billw]

Tubs’ description and picture of the disassembled points are both beautiful and worth holding on to. You can think your points are clean; but all it takes is one tiny particle of the abrasive medium used to clean them, to keep them from working. Sometimes they won’t work, even when they are brad new. After cleaning and installing points, I usually will fold a business card in half and drag it between the point contacts, to get that last little bit of clean. Then, I test them with an ohm meter. (They have to be disconnected from the coil for this test.) When the points are closed, the ohm reading across the contacts should be zero, or at least exactly equal to whatever you get when you just hold the two meter leads together. Then when you open them, the reading should be infinity, “OL,” or whatever your meter reads when the meter leads are connected to nothing.

As for the condenser, in my experience, there is about a 95% probability that it is, in fact, “bad.” I have an honest-to-God magneto analyzer and have tested many, many of them. Even if you have the “capacitance” test feature on your meter, it means very little if it passes that test. The real test is “leakage and short,” which can only be done with a real magneto or condenser tester. It is much easier to just assume it is junk. Many will differ on this site; but the reality is that you will find that virtually any modern automotive or marine condenser will work in place of what you have, for the duration of what we, as hobbyists, are likely to use the engine. All the condenser has to do is physically FIT on the magneto. If you are going to run the engine for hours on end, or if someone’s life depends on the engine, then by all means, get the right value condenser.

Long live American manufacturing!