79 Silverline
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 32
You guys are probably so tired of my questions, but you guys are my last hope in this nightmare series of events that's been going on. I took the boat out today and got all the ignition timing dialed in perfect. This is again on a 79 inline 6 90 HP. So we were out cruising around for a couple hours and everything is running better than I've ever seen it run before - it has a new trigger, new switchbox and coil combo from CDI. So we're boating around and then engine loses power and dies within a second or two. Had to be towed in. It started up a time or two, but would quickly die. Timing light showed badly missing spark. So much for the brand new ignition.<br /><br />It turns out that the trigger and switchbox are working, but spark is not getting past the distributor! If I directly connect the coil to a sparkplug, it'll fire all day long, no problems. However, I just can't get it to fire a plug through the distributor. When I test the spark from the coil, it'll only jump about 1/8th inch or so. This is a CDI coil that comes with the switchbox (114-2986). Is my brand new coil shorting out internally? I've already sent the box in for a warranty repair once, so I don't think they want to deal with me again.<br /><br />The cap and rotor on the otherhand appear to be alright - the cap doesn't look eroded away any significan amount, and the rotor doesn't appear to be either. Cap has no cracks or other damage. Brush going to the rotor is fine and the spring moves freely. What could be wrong?<br /><br /><Rant> I'm on a college student budget, and I've gone through two switchboxes and a trigger so far. I cooked the original switchbox when I was tired and connected the battery backwards. It's replacement got fried when I mixed up the trigger and 12V key wires late at night when I was trying to find a problem with the trigger - CDI warrantied it and that's what I have in the boat now. The accident which cooked the box also finished off the trigger, which I already suspected was bad. And now, I think the onboard coil on this latest CDI unit is dead due to no fault of my own and I'm all out of credibility with CDI. I've spent more on the boat than I bought it for, and no longer know what to do with it. It just left me hanging in time for a trip this weekend to top it all off. Anyways, I figure I'd share for your guys amusement. I don't believe in curses, but I'm beginning to...</rant>