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My 94' Outrage 17' with an Evinrude 115 is down after a few months of ownership. I had a problem with difficulty in starting the 115, which I thought might be caused by contaminated fuel the last time I had been out. After trolling on the kicker, I tried to start the 115. It started without any trouble. Then last week I tried to start it, and just couldn't get it to run. I changed out the water separating fuel filter, which had a small amount of water in it. Changed the plugs, checked the inline fuel filter which was completely clean. Had plenty of power to turn over, but could not get the engine to fire. I broke down and took to a local dealer, who has diagnosed the problem as a bad "Power Pack".
My question is what is reasonable to expect to pay for a Power Pack, and is this a common problem. The dealer is quoting around $600 in labor and parts. I've had Mercury, and Honda outboards in the past, but this is my first experience with Evinrudes.

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I have 2 power packs on my V6 Evinrude 150....

Don't you have 2 power packs also... One for each bank?

Are they replacing both power packs or just one for that price?
I think I paid about $150 each for my power packs....
Call another dealer and see how much they want for each power pack...

They are very easy to install. Just plug-in some wires and mount the pack itself....

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Joe, my V6 225 has one power pack - maybe it depends on the year? Mine is a 91.

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Look online...I was able to find a power pack for a 1991 120hp Johnson for around $120...shipped to my door...if I could swap them out, anyone can! It's not as hard as it seems...as it turns out, my problem wasn't the power pack...so now I have a spare! :)

Good luck...$600 does sound like a lot but if you're going OEM, they are more $$$...it shouldn't take any longer than an hour to do...

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Update to the dead 115. Still in the shop, but only running on 2 cylinders. Service Tech replaced the power packs with OEM power packs. He's checked the kill switch, and is still only able to get two cylinders to fire when turning over. When he's started it and used starting fluid, he's been able to get all four to eventually fire, but upon restart without the fluid he can't get all 4, just two. Today I stopped into the shop, and he said he'd pulled the flywheel. He had a buddy who has a spare that they were going to try in place of mine. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Since you may be approaching the end of the boating season, maybe you will be able to find one on Ebay. I have purchased many used parts as spares (including the CDI) for basically for pennies... I have gotten zinged on a new CDI in the past for an old Merc...:(

As noted by Dave this is not a difficult replacement.

Good Luck

Update; After reading the last post more closely I thinking that there may be a coil issue or trigger under the flywheel. Weak spark, firing only with starting fluid. BTW that stuff is not real good for 2 strokes. Very dry and and no lube...

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Looks like the end may be in sight. Dealer called to say that one of the replacement power packs may have been bad. Two weeks down time, and lord knows how much time they've spent diagnosing the problem. Just hope I don't get dinged for them not checking the replacement.

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Big,

Sorry to here of your poor service experience. At least in Cali your boating season is much long than ours.

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I'm just curious...how many power packs does a 115hp evinrude have, anyway? My 1991 120hp Johnson only had one?

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Bigfish,
The last time I thought I had a power pack problem with my 1989 200 Johnson, it turned out to be the Timer Base Unit. Dealership spent all day testing before they found the problem. If not already checked, you might suggest it to your mechanic.

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Back from the shop... The shop guys tried changing the Power Packs, the stator, a different flywheel, and the optical eye. Long story short, engine still won't fire. Plenty of cranking power, but it just won't fire. Any suggestions would be welcomed. This shop has Evinrude (OMC) trained techs, but they were left scratching their heads. I'm looking for any recommendations for a good OMC shop anywhere in Northern California.

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bigfish,

Northern California is a huge area. Bigger than many states....
However, I see you are in Sacramento....
The best OMC master mechanic I know of is in Weaverville. Probably way too far for you to go.

If you want his number, just let me know.

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Bigfish,
This is a puzzling dilemma. In my experience dealing with mechanics, they sometimes can't see the forrest for the woods. I'm no mechanic, but I think a combustion engine needs fuel and spark to run. I would assume they have verified there is good fuel and adequate spark in each cylinder. If not, I would first check each cylinder for fuel. After verification that fuel is there, I would remove the spark plug for each cylinder, connect it to the wire and verify there is spark. If no spark, I would work backwards toward the electrical source. First the spark plug, the spark plug wire, coil, and etc. Maybe I am over simplifying the process, but it's something you can use to question your mechanics. The last time I had a problem with intermitten skipping on my 1998 GMC Safari, my repair shop advised me they were not getting trouble codes from the vehicle's computer module even though you could feel the skip at a certain speed. After discussing the situation with them, I asked if they had verified the working order of their diagnostic machine by creating a trouble. I suggested they remove a spark plug wire to create a trouble code. They found the problem was with their machine. They used a different machine, identified the problem and corrected it. Just food for thought! Good luck!