Recently picked up a Wizard WA-3 (full serial is WA-3-140).

It looks like a standard point ignition but someone has done a little work to it. Doesn't look like I'm getting a spark and testing it shows that everything seems to be grounded to everything else.

So I was wondering if anyone knows of a wiring diagram anywhere on the web for this motor. Info seems to be scarce on the 41-42 motors.

I love these little antique motors and would love to get it running again. Looks like the previous owner sandblasted it and prepped it for a restore, then stopped. It is completely bare aluminum and at some point someone has replaced all the seals and gaskets (someone put some TLC into this thing).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ok so I got the wiring figured out and have a good spark. Now on to the next issue.

I can get the motor fired up if the choke is 90% closed, throttle wide open and start it with a little starter fluid. Otherwise it will not run at all.

Compression, spark, carb, floats, needle seals, reed valve have all been checked cleaned and new gaskets put on with sealer.

The spark plug looks good.

Anyone run into this issue on these motors? I have worked on a ton of 5-15 hp outboards and when I get them to the point this one is at with maintenance I have never had one that didn't run.

When it is running with the choke closed it is just sputtering along at about idle speed (with the throttle open), when I start to close the choke it starts to run normal then dies right away.

Compression...Check
Ignition...Check
Carburetion...Check
It has to one of the usual suspects.
Which carburetor is involved? A in WA I believe indicates a first year 1940 model...1941 models
reflect lessons learned...various changes/improvments made including adopting the Tillotson AJ10 carburetor.
Is yours a poppet valve carburetor or a Tillotson
carburetor with a metal float? Did you clean fuel
system and install in line filter...not original but
often only way to go.
Be aware too. that sometimes a number of "mechanics"
may have reworked your outboard with parts from later
models to keep it running. Original motors look original...most reworked and altered motors do not..even well restored motors look more like restored than original. My take on it all is any well intentioned effort to keep an old outboard useful is to be encouraged. Really great restorations require equally great skills which not all have.
Mr. Kiekhaefer was still learning the outboard business at the time your little outboard left his factory...even so it was of sound basic design and
should work as advertised 70+ years on.
My money is on some problem in carburetor or fuel
feed. It is possible that moving spark advance shorts
wire...did you install new wire to spark plug?
Eisemann or Wico coils are usually okay...or at
least look okay...postwar Repco/Phelon and Bendix
coils are well known for cracks in the plastic like covering material. I like to spray clean the magneto assembly with no residue electrical contact cleaner
...removes all oil and grease and dirt...relube
items that need lube before use. Oily residue usually
means upper crankshaft seal needs to be popped out
and a new one installed.
I preach to the choir perhaps,but, better to preach
the whole rather than selected parts
Have fun and let us know how it goes.
Rereading your comments...
If someone has reworked magneto is it possible they
placed coil on wrong side of magneto plate? I have
seen several postwar Bendix magneto plates from
singles with one side of the magneto plate broken
off...I think done deliberately to avoid any possibility of replacing coil on wrong side...
same plate used for both single and twins with
Bendix...perhaps yours? Spark advance for start
is a little past mid way...is the cam in place
that contacts the carburetor lever?
Your motor may have tangled with Murphy's Law...
if it is not one of the usual suspects maybe it is something you would never do but someone else might have done.
Louis

It looks original from what I can tell. I compared to all the pictures I could find and everything looks like it is right.

Not sure if it makes a difference on the year, but the throttle handle is below the tank, just above the carb. Some I see listed as 1941 have the throttle handle above the tank.

It is a Tillotson carb with the metal float. The inside of the bowl and float look 100% new.

I have not cleaned the inside of the tank, but the fuel lines were flushed and there is plenty of fuel flowing. I'll have to clean out the tank tomorrow.

For the plug wire I re-grounded the end that connects to the plug with the little tooth that bites into the wire, tested and working good.

I'll check out the coil position to make sure... I didn't even think about that but after reading it I can see how someone could do that. Think I am going to completely pull the ignition, clean and reinstall.

Thanks for the tips. Everything I know points to the engine starving for fuel but there is plenty flowing, especially when it runs choked it is just getting loaded down with fuel.

I'll try to dip the carb and make sure the jets are spotless, redo the ignition and see what I come up with. If that doesn't do it I think I'll just sell it as-is. Seems rare enough that I can do well on it even in a semi-running state.

I wonder if the same carb adjustments for the WD-4S would work on the WA-3? These instructions have worked on practically every other Wizard I've owned including my 1946 WD-3 which should be roughly similar to yours.

http://pub9.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=737212788&frmid=52&msgid=759527&cmd=show

Louis would probably know better than I.

I'll try with those settings listed in the book. Certainly had the high speed needle off, used to dealing with newer motors that need about 3 turns out, not 3/4.

The up market Mercury K2 and Wizard WA3 clone had Tillotson MS113A carburetors (assuming source document
is correct) So long as owner drained carburetor before
Winter storage float should be ok...up North if gas
was not drained from carburetor bowl and there was
a bit of water in gas...condensation in fuel tank...
water freezes,expands and crushes copper float...
...My K2 has a float wrinkled and shrunken like a prune ...probably did not get much use after that
Winter.
Adjusting low and high speed needles will likely see your gem purring like new...and put you in mood to
find another early Kiekhaefer.
Prewar Kiekhaefer made outboards were sold by Montgomery Ward as Sea Kings, Western Auto as Wizards and thru dealers as Mercurys in 1940 and 1941...from what I can gather Kiekhaefer made outboards up to end of civilian production in early 1942...loaded KB3S and KB4 twins...higher price higher margin models for Mercury dealers. A complete collection of prewar
Kiekhaefer outboards would be very difficult...some
models made in very limited numbers. Your WA3 has a
LOW serial number.
Much easier to find most postwar models as there
were fewer models made in larger numbers.
1940 waterpump intake has 16 square holes...1941 has
7 slits...same impeller.
Louis