Nothing beats the joy of having an outboard motor that starts easily.
But in some of your outboard motors, you may experience difficulty starting it at the first try.
This is always due to a yamaha outboard ignition problem when it happens in your yamaha outboard motor.
When this occurs, your yamaha outboard motor will have a hard time starting.
Some of the causes of an ignition problem in a yamaha outboard motor include bad battery, bad stator, bad starter solenoid, bad flywheel as well as a bad spark plug.
When any of these ignition system components have a fault, the outboard motor will not start easily.
Causes Of Ignition Problems In a Yamaha Outboard Motor
1)Bad Stator
One of the greatest component of a functional ignition system is an electric charge.
For an ignition to take place in an outboard motor, an electric charge has to be produced.
The way an electric charge is produced is different in outboard motors.
Some outboard motors are pull start.
While others are electric start outboard motors.
In a pull start outboard motor, the electric charge is being produced by the stator.
Without a good stator in a pull start outboard motor, no electric charge will be produced.
Due to this, the outboard motor will have ignition problems.
This will make the outboard motor not to start.
2) Bad Ignition Coil
No matter how good all the components of an ignition system is, there will be no ignition if the ignition coil is bad.
This is because for the spark produced from the stator to be effectively functional in an outboard motor ignition process, it has to meet the demand of the spark plug.
The spark plug needs thousands of voltage in order to ignite fuel in the combustion chamber.
But the thing is that the rectified voltage from the stator is not more than 14.5 volts.
Due to this, the stator cannot directly power the spark plug.
This is where the ignition coil comes in.
The ignition coil helps in turbo charging the voltage it receives to the capacity that the spark plug needs.
This is usually in thousands of volts.
With this, the spark plug will be able to function well and burn fuel in the combustion chamber efficiently.
But if the ignition coil is bad, then the spark plug will not receive the right capacity of voltage it needs.
Due to this, there will be yamaha outboard motor ignition problems.
3) Bad Battery
In an outboard motor that uses an electric start, a battery is a very important component.
This is due to the role that the battery plays.
In an electric starter outboard motor, a starter motor helps in rotating the flywheel.
When the flywheel rotates, the stator produces an electric charge for use in the outboard motor.
Part of this energy will be used to keep the voltage of the battery at an optimal level through the rectifier.
While part of the rectified charge is being sent to other components like the ignition coil to help power up the outboard motor through combustion in the combustion chamber.
But if the battery in the electric start outboard motor is bad, the electric motor will not be able to spin the flywheel for an electric charge to be generated for ignition.
4) Bad Starter Motor
In a pull start outboard motor, the flywheel rotates when the pull start rope is pulled.
This helps generate the electric charge that leads to the ignition of the outboard motor.
But if it is an electric start outboard motor, the function of the pull starter is replaced by the starter motor.
If the starter motor is bad, the rotation of the flywheel to generate an electric charge will not be possible.
Due to this, a yamaha outboard ignition problem will occur.
To fix this, you have to make sure that you replace the bad starter motor with a good one.
5) Bad Flywheel
The flywheel in an outboard motor is a very important component of the outboard motor.
Inside the flywheel is a magnet that rotates around the stator.
Due to this, an electric charge is created from the stator.
But if the magnets in the flywheel is bad, then the charge generated from the stator will be little to nothing.
Due to this, the rectifier will not receive an optimum amount of AC charge to convert to DC current and power the outboard motor.
6) Bad Rectifier
In an outboard motor, the presence of a rectifier is very important.
The rectifier helps in converting the alternating current the stator or alternator produces to a direct current.
This helps in replenishing the used charge in the boat battery to avoid a battery drain.
The excess energy is used to power other components of the outboard motor.
One of these components is the ignition system of the outboard motor.
But if the rectifier in the outboard motor is bad, then the production of a 14.5 DC current to charge the battery and power the outboard motor will not be possible.
This will affect the performance of the ignition system in the outboard motor.
A bad rectifier will also affect the stator negatively.
Changing the bad rectifier to a good one will help solve the problem.
7) Bad Spark Plug
For the charge delivery for ignition to be complete and successful in an outboard motor, the spark plug plays a huge role.
The spark plug is the ignition component that receives the turbo charged voltage from the ignition coil.
With this, the spark plug sends this charge to the combustion chamber which helps in igniting the fuel in the combustion chamber.
Due to this, the outboard motor starts and produces power.
But if the spark plug is bad, then the optimal delivery of charge for combustion will not be possible.
This will lead to an ignition issue in the yamaha outboard motor.
To solve this, make sure that you replace a bad outboard spark plug with a good one.
8) Bad Starter Solenoid
For the battery to supply an electric charge to power the starter motor, a communication channel is used.
This communication channel is the starter solenoid.
When the ignition switch is turned, a signal is being sent to the starter solenoid to allow the passage of voltage from the battery to the starter motor.
If this starter solenoid is faulty, then the passage of volts from the battery to the starter motor will not be possible.
Due to this, the starter motor will not rotate to spin the flywheel.
This causes an ignition problem in the yamaha outboard motor.
To correct this, you have to make sure that you replace the bad starter solenoid to a good one.
9) Bad Fuel To Oil Ratio
When it comes to the functionality of an outboard motor, they all function differently depending on the number of cylinders they have.
In a four stroke yamaha outboard motor, oil has a seperate compartment.
But in a two stroke yamaha outboard motor, the oil has to be mixed with fuel before it is used in the outboard motor.
This leads to a lot of performance lag in the outboard motor if the wrong fuel to oil mix ratio is used.
Too much oil in the fuel will lead to ignition problems as the fuel mixture will be too viscous to allow combustion to take place.
If the outboard motor eventually starts, the smoke from the exhaust will be much.
This is just a sign that the oil in the fuel mixture is too much.
That is why you have to make sure that you use a mix ratio that will allow your outboard motor to perform well.
Such optimal fuel to oil mix ratio for a two stroke outboard motor is 50:1.
10) Low Oil Level
In a four stroke outboard motor, the oil compartment is seperate.
With this, you do not have to mix the oil with fuel before pouring the fuel into the tank.
The fuel is used without being mixed with the oil.
But in this, you have to make sure that the oil level in the four stroke outboard motor is at the optimal level and changed when due.
This will help your 4 stroke yamaha outboard motor to function well.
If the oil is low, the outboard motor will not start.
Also make sure that you change the oil when it is due for a change.
This will help your outboard motor to function well when you try to start it or when it is running.
11)Bad Ignition Switch
In an electric outboard motor, ignition problems can set in even when the battery and the starter motor are in a good working condition.
This is usually due to a bad ignition switch.
When the boat ignition switch is bad, the starter solenoid will not be well signalled to release charge from the battery to the starter motor.
Due to this, you will experience yamaha outboard motor ignition problems.
A replacement of the faulty ignition switch with a good one will help solve this problem.