Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

[viper1216]

I had a no spark issue. 1988 Four Winns with a 3.0, same year. Over the weekend engine just stopped firing. Had no spark. Already had an ignitor 1 kit on it, but had original coil, crappy cap, rotor and wires. Bought a brand new Ignitor 2 for it as well as a flamethrower coil. New cap, rotor and wires. Plugs were already new. Put it all in tonight, and I still have no spark. I wired in the new coil per the instructions and have 12 volts going to it. No spark to the plugs at all. I checked and I do have great spark coming from the coil. Confirmed rotor is indeed spinning. I'm at my wits end here.....

Thanks for any and all help!!

Dave

 

[dubs283]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

just make sure the coil wire is seated on noth the coil tower and the dist cap

is the rotor the right size??

firing order??

timing??

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

spark from the coil means the module is working to provide spark at the coil tower. not having spark at the plug wires could be a bad dist cap carbon button, or rotor has a hole in the bottom allowing spark to ground out to the dist shaft. rotor locating keyway damaged/missing not allowing rotor to turn with cap in place

 

[wrench 3]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Check for spark at the distributor end of the coil wire. If it's getting that far, check for spark coming out of the distributor with a known good wire. That will narrow it down to cap/rotor or a wire.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

The battery needs to be fully charged too.
Is it getting fuel?

 

[MikDee]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Simple, coil gives off spark, it goes thru the wire to the Dist cap inside top center carbon rod,,, which then touches, or it's supposed to touch, the metal tab on the rotor (are these parts touching? You may hafta bend the tab up a bit carefully), next rotor sends spark to each spark plug terminal inside. That's it! Actual spark transfer, No smoke, and mirrors?

Or, the wrong rotor, or cap? Like Dubs mentioned.

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

I'm wondering on cap and rotor. They are brand new but I got them from an auto parts store, but they look identical to the ones that were on there already. Not sure if those were right though, but it did run in the past. Wires are brand new and Sierra from West Marine, so those are good. I guess I'll swing by today and bite the bullet and grab an OEM cap and rotor for it. I haven't checked the timing yet, but I didn't move the distributor at all, so not sure how that could have gotten messed up. Firing order is correct 1-3-4-2 with number one on the cap being bottom left if you are standing at engine looking out back of the boat. Thanks for the help guys!!

 

[MikDee]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Before spending your money again, did you visually inspect the items I mentioned, to see if it's all set up right? One more thing, make sure all your wires are seated in the cap properly, especially the Coil wire.

 

[wrench 3]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Will the spark going into the distributor cap jump a 1/4" gap or more?

 

[JustJason]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Disconnect your gray tach wire on the neg side of the coil and try again.

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Ok, update....got the new OEM cap and rotor....still had nothing...decided to check the timing like someone suggested. Brought it to TDC and checked the rotor....it was pointing about an inch ahead of the wire on the cap!!! Turned the distributor to match, and she fired right up. Still running rough, but assuming I need to put a light on it. I'm a little puzzled how that happened as I didn't touch the timing, but whatever! It runs!!
Funny that you mentioned that grey wire Jason....I had the grey wire off anyway as I wanted to make sure the only wires on were the ignition while I was testing. However, after I got it running...and put the tach wire back on, it won't run again. Took off, fires right up....touched grey wire to neg on coil while it was running and engine starts to die....why would that be?

Thanks for everyone's responses....you guys are awesome!!!!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Ok, update....got the new OEM cap and rotor....still had nothing...decided to check the timing like someone suggested. Brought it to TDC and checked the rotor....it was pointing about an inch ahead of the wire on the cap!!! Turned the distributor to match, and she fired right up. Still running rough, but assuming I need to put a light on it. I'm a little puzzled how that happened as I didn't touch the timing, but whatever! It runs!!
Funny that you mentioned that grey wire Jason....I had the grey wire off anyway as I wanted to make sure the only wires on were the ignition while I was testing. However, after I got it running...and put the tach wire back on, it won't run again. Took off, fires right up....touched grey wire to neg on coil while it was running and engine starts to die....why would that be?

Thanks for everyone's responses....you guys are awesome!!!!

Ayuh,.... The Tach, or the wire to it is shorted to Ground,....

Try another Tach,...

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Thanks Bondo. I'll pick one up. Also, when I put that wire on, before engine dies, My gauges all light up...they are dark without it on. Do the dash lights usually go through the tach?

 

[MikDee]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Glad you got it fixed! But, I would have thought you re-checked your plug wiring from the beginning, after replacing them.

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

It wasn't the wires Mikdee, those were correct. It was the timing on the distributor. It was advanced way to much.

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Another thing is in the instructions for the ignition, it says that OMC owners need to perform a Shift Interrupter fix for the ignition to owrk correctly. Mercruiser is not the same as OMC correct?

 

[JustJason]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Quote Originally Posted by viper1216 View Post

Ok, update....got the new OEM cap and rotor....still had nothing...decided to check the timing like someone suggested. Brought it to TDC and checked the rotor....it was pointing about an inch ahead of the wire on the cap!!! Turned the distributor to match, and she fired right up. Still running rough, but assuming I need to put a light on it. I'm a little puzzled how that happened as I didn't touch the timing, but whatever! It runs!!
Funny that you mentioned that grey wire Jason....I had the grey wire off anyway as I wanted to make sure the only wires on were the ignition while I was testing. However, after I got it running...and put the tach wire back on, it won't run again. Took off, fires right up....touched grey wire to neg on coil while it was running and engine starts to die....why would that be?

Thanks for everyone's responses....you guys are awesome!!!!
Ayuh,.... The Tach, or the wire to it is shorted to Ground,....

Try another Tach,...

Disconnect the gray wire at the back of the tach next, and hook it up at the coil. If you loose spark the gray wire has a short in the harness, cut it out and run a new wire. If it's fine, the tach is bad and shorted internally

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Another thing is in the instructions for the ignition, it says that OMC owners need to perform a Shift Interrupter fix for the ignition to owrk correctly. Mercruiser is not the same as OMC correct?

Correct. OMC uses an electronic module that wouldn't be compatible. Mercruiser doesn't use this method.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Thanks Bondo. I'll pick one up. Also, when I put that wire on, before engine dies, My gauges all light up...they are dark without it on. Do the dash lights usually go through the tach?

Ayuh,.... Sounds like a Short, or Bad Grounds in the dash,....

 

[viper1216]

Re: Brand new electronic ignition conversion kit - Still no spark

Thanks Jason and Bruce...Jason, so just disco the grey at the tach and leave it hanging there, and then attach other end to the coil, if it dies, it's shorting to ground somewhere, correct? Could it possibly be the shift interrupter? I'm assuming this would be the next thing to check if the tach turns out to be ok. Sound like a logical next step?