OMC Cobra 2.3l won't start

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ok so i have a 1989 omc cobra 2.3l. the boat was given to me as a gift last summer after it had sat in storage for 15 years. i had overhauled most of the engine last year and could not get it started. finally i bought a new timing belt and a second set of points and condenser and it started immediately. success. the boat started faster than my brand new truck. it was amazing. after getting it running i began work restoring other parts of the boat for about a month. i then went to finally drop the boat in the water and take it for a test ride. being an experienced boater i hooked the ears up and went to run the engine in the drive way before hooking the trailer up or anything. well the boat started right up. but the oil pressure was reading high and the engine sounded like it was being revved in neutral. my tach is the only gauge that doesn't work right now so i couldn't tell you how much the rpms were raised. since the oil pressure was running high i decided to shut the boat down. waited about a half hour and tried starting it again. it took a little while but then started. same thing. running "strong." oil pressure slightly high. so i shut it down again and started inspection and looking around the engine for what could cause this. the only thing i actually touched was my dipstick to see if maybe there was too much oil in the boat from when the oil change was done. oil was perfect. so i went to start the boat again and it would not kick over. boat cranked and cranked perfectly, but wouldn't start. the boat hasn't run since that moment back in september of 2013:grumpy:. now fast forward to now. i have changed the points and condenser 2 more times with brand new stuff. i have retimed and retimed and double checked the timing of the engine. it is perfect. i checked the compression of each cylinder, all around 135-140, good. brand new sparks plugs (again). no start. 2 mechanics have even uttered these non helpful words to me, "your engine has everything it needs to run, doesn't make sense." of course they charged for their "helpful advice." So in summary i have:

-Compression
-Timing is perfect
-brand new points and condensers gapped at .019
-I have fuel in the cylinders. (brand new fuel obviously), brand new fuel lines even bypassed the carburetor with a direct line to a gas can
-i have great spark at the plugs

how is it possible that this boat won't start all of the sudden?

 

[Bulbash]

Re: OMC Cobra 2.3l won't start

Couple ideas to check... 1. shift interrupt switch 2. Safety switch at the dashboard ( the one you hook up to yourself when on the lake)...

 

[MikDee]

Re: OMC Cobra 2.3l won't start

If you changed the timing belt (or is it a chain?), check this out: Your engine has Cyl #1, & Cyl #4, with the crank at TDC at the same time. One is ready to fire (has compression), the other is not (no compression), governed by your camshaft, being a 4-cycle engine. You must determine when Cyl #1 is ready to fire, and set your Dizzy on Cyl #1 to match. It may be 1/2 a turn off? If so, leave the Dizzy base where it is, but Just lift it out enough to clear the oil pump gear, then move the rotor to Cyl#1. Then try it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Cobra 2.3l won't start

Measure the voltage at the coil with the ignition on and also while cranking.

Just for now, remove the wires from the negative side of the coil except for the one that goes to the distributor.

 

[fade2black0215]

Re: OMC Cobra 2.3l won't start

Measure the voltage at the coil with the ignition on and also while cranking.

Just for now, remove the wires from the negative side of the coil except for the one that goes to the distributor.

ok guys i finally, after all this time, have figured it out and got the engine to run again. i checked everything you guys suggested and it all checked out fine and perfect. i swore i was missing some sort of kill switch or something. unfortunately for me i didn't see bruceb's comment until after it was fixed. i got to the point where the engine was almost firing. it would rumble for a split second then die. turn the key, here it just almost start and then, off. after doing that 100 times i realized that it almost seemed like i was shutting the engine from the key. with that knowledge i tested the voltage on the wire that comes off the first solenoid from the battery, to the positive side of the coil with the key on. only read 2 volts. should be 12. turned the batteries off, cleaned both end connectors, slipped them back on, reading was 12 volts almost on the nose, engine fired right up and stayed on after releasing the key off the start position. thanks for the help guys.