Coming back to the dock Sun. evening the boat engine just died. I was only a couple hundred yards away from the dock, so I got towed in and put her on the trailer,we were done for the day anyway. Here's what I know.....Running along about 40-45 mph..3700 -3900 rpm...45-50 psi oil...160 water temp...220 oil temp...1/2 tank of fuel. Got home late this evening didn't have much time to fart around with it but the engine cranks normally, Gas pumping down the carb, 12 volts going to MSD blaster coil, thats as far as I got before dinner and darkness sets in. I'm starting on it in the morning, I'm thinking ignition coil,any other thoughts out there?,,,BTW motor is a 502 465 HP NA 1994

Do you have an MSD box???

no, MSD coil with the regular T-bolt IV ignition set up. Nothing special or anything just haven't gotten past the obvious stuff yet.

Similar thing happened to me last week . Nothing but a coil .
Cheap and easy fix .

I've yet to find a bad coil, although I've convince myself many times it HAD to be the coil. When someone fixes a problem by changing the coil, I'm betting they fixed the bad connection at the coil.

Thats what my mechanic said too . He has never run into this before . But sure as chit testing the coil out of the boat proved it . First time for everything . The only thing different with me was I was out 15 miles when the starboard engine sputtered and quit . It was a very long one engine 5mph cruise home at night .
That ride comfirmed why I don't own a snailboat .

I've had two blaster coils open on the primary side on me. One connected to an MSD 6 box on my Jeep. Left me stranded on the Belt Pkwy in Brooklyn. Second one on the stock electronic ignition on the Jeep. Will never use one again.

Ok, after digging around this morning I pulled the distributor cap off and relised that I could spin the rotor cap freely in either direction. Pulled the distributor out, it checked out fine, then pulled the intake manifold off and I was able to reach inside and spin the gear on the camshaft easily in either direction,(not the entire camshaft, just the gear) . Called crane cams and they told me that their gears are pressed on then pinned and dont recall hearing of one that has snapped the pin, short of some catastrophic failure. Just my luck, guess I'll be a rider at this years Cumberland poker run. Ain't boats grand !!

Roger, I have a new Crane 13H000036 cam and a new set of Crane 99377 HI Intensity lifters which were purchased several years back for a project which never materialized. Based on a quick search, the current internet prices for these are $244.98 and $109.95 respectively. I will let these go for $275 shipped to your door if you are interested... And yes, boats can be "grand" from time to time. Also, if you really want to go the Poker Run this weekend, I have seen a quick cam change by drilling a 4" hole in the rear seat back. Not something to be proud of... but effective. Good luck.

Thanks for the offer Inspector, But I spoke to crane cams this morning and they are replacing the cam as it was made before an improvement in the way the drive gears are installed. Hopefully I'll only be out some scratched knuckles and a weekend of boating.