99fever27

Well finally got the boat back to the house where I can work on it. The engine is getting plenty of gas. I found that I am not getting any spark. I started checking all the fuses, breakers and any loose wires. All is normal. Thought it was the coil, bought a new coil. Still no spark. Jiggled the ignition key..no spark. Pulled the dead man switch..looked fine, but how do you test? Still no spark...Could it be a bad ground somewhere? Distributor is tight, I dont think it came out of time. By the way how do you remove the dist. cap with those funny looking screws that you cant turn? One thing I failed to say was when I was running it, I accidently flipped the dead man switch..but started right back up and ran fine. It wasent until later (maybe an hr.) that it started acting up. Now I have Two boats in my drive way..One that wont sell and the other that wont run! Please Help..
Cheers,
Matt

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

You can follow the wires from behind the 'dead man' switch and unplug the switch and plug the wires together, bypassing the switch to check the switch itself if you don't have an ohm/continuity tester. I had same problem on one of my boats. just died in the water. Turned out the switch contacts must have gotten a build up on them. I flipped it many times, and was on my way.

99fever27

Thanks US1, I pulled the switch didnt see much give in the wires behind it. Are you saying the wires can be unplugged further back from the switch? I did cross the two soldered leads and tried to crank,but...........no spark.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Mine are. About 1' leads. Mine are purple wires, (purple and purple w/white strip) that go to the dash. They are ran along the the dash wires underneath. But since you crossed the solder joints with no change, the swith itself is not the problem. That's not to say the switch did not get unplugged at the connector. (long shot) Needs to be a closed circut for spark.
Did you check if you have 12v at the '+' terminal at the coil?

99fever27

No I havent...whats the process? Ignition on, and a grounded test light? Do you have to crank the starter to get volts? Sorry im a bit of a dumb azz.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

yes. test light grounded and connected to coil positive terminal. Key in run position. No need to crank. Figure might as well start at the basics.

99fever27

thanks again US1..

99fever27

Well finally got her running tonight! I narrowed it down to the cap and rotor, and well maybe the coil too. Chased all the grounds. I hate electrical problems. I replaced all the plugs installed new ones, changed the oil and filter..tomorrow is the fuel filter (ran out of day light). I dont think the plugs have ever been changed, gaps were all over the board and the rotor still had lock tight. I switched over to the msd blaster coil..hope this doesnt cause a problem with the ignition module? All in all I learned alot, especially building my own fresh water flush. Thanks for the help guys!
Cheers, Matt