1986 35 HP Mercury loses spark on 1 cylinder

HeliChopped

Cadet
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
26
1986 Mercury 35 HP. Model 1035716. Serial A951314.
Crank the engine and I have spark on both cylinders for about 4 or 5 seconds then cylinder 1 dies. Stop cranking and recrank with the same results.
I switched coils and the problem stays with the number 1 cylinder so the coils are OK. The switch box wires all clean and tight (bullet connectors).
Maybe the switch box itself going bad?
It has been getting in the habit of acting like running on one cylinder until it warms up is why I decided to check.
 

CaptnKingfisher

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 14, 2017
Messages
259
Listen for arcing, inspect plug boot, try swapping coil with a good one and see if problem stays on no 1 cylinder or if issue follows coil. Can do same test with swapping plugs to see if plug is bad. If coil and plugs are good, check out the ignition troubleshooting guide on cdi's website and get yourself a dva adapter
 

HeliChopped

Cadet
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
26
Well the stator and trigger checked out okay but I have strange spark behavior. I didn't check the switch box yet.
https://youtu.be/Qj255_PX6EU
I was just checking #1 but now that I have 1 & 2 next to each other I see what a mess I really have.
Maybe someone has seen this behavior before?
 
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