starting problem.. what to do next?

[hullofalottatrouble]

merc 260 with qjet and pertronix II - flamethrower coil.. new plugs and plug wires last spring.. never ran the boat last summer thou it did start and run real nice on trailer before winterized..

this spring i jacked up the timing and it wouldnt fire.. but got that fixed enough to fire it up and it ran.. but i shut it down.. opened the dist cap and the rotor was broken.. so just let it sit til i got a new cap/rotor.. which i did.. put them on and can't get it to start.. definitely getting fuel in each cylinder..2 strong streams when pumping throttle and smell it on the spark plugs.. and attached the timing light to all the wires and they all at least had some spark in the wires when i cranked the engine.. but it would not even attempt to fire.. definitely have the firing order correct and timing close enough to fire.. i pulled the plugs and a few were a little wet with fuel and oil.. but guess i expected that from cranking a dozen + times and never running..

so here is a dumb question im sure.. i know you should have 12v at the coil with the ignition switch on but how many volts should you have at the coil when you are cranking the engine to try to start? mine jumped down to like 6 ish.. is that normal? the battery itself still put out 12 when cranking..

so dont ask my why but i got all worried and did a comp test on a couple cylinders.. they are all fine.. but after the last one i tested.. i tried to turned it over again and absolutely nothing happens.. not even a click.. no sound at all.. i tested the ignition switch and it seems to be working.. all of the guages worked and accesories.. so where do i go next on this one? solenoid?

and anybody know a good shop in lake county Illinois.. i can't figure this thing out?? or maybe i can but am getting to frustrated..

thanks guys..

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

ok so i tried to hot wire at the switch and nothing happened.. so then i jumped the connect at the solenoid and the starter cranked like crazy.. sounds like the solenoid is bad?? or does that show nothing?

also if the solenoid was on the fritz would that contribute to the not start problem? or what was the deal with that? I have compression, fuel, and i thought spark but was that voltage at the coil when cranking normal?

thanks

 

[Coors]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

t
his spring i jacked up the timing and it wouldnt fire.
not good.
clean all connections and grounds.

 

[Don S]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

WHY did you "Jack Up" the timing?????????

Try this.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=201105

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

don.. wasn't intentional.. but it seemed to be the cause of my no start this spring.. it was set dead on last summer.. fired right up. ran real nice.. this summer i dont even remember why or how at this point but i got the timing out of whack and thought i remembered where it needed to be set to fire.. but i was wrong.. so i checked again with cyl 1 tdc and lined up the rotor with #1 on the cap and it fired up and ran.. but as mentioned the rotor broke so got a new one and swapped it in.. and now no start.. the starter turned over the cyl good compression, getting fuel, get spark? i didnt check the plugs but as mentioned know the wires where getting charged.. was the spark just too weak for some reason?

and now the ignition problem.. which seems to be the solenoid? or not?

that thread link just went to a message about spam..

thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

Once you get your start problem fixed and get it running, set your timing with a timing light, not by memory.

 

[Coors]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

The rotor breaks when the cap is not on correctly. The cap needs replacing also.

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

yes don i know that i need to set it with the timing light and not by memory.. i just needed to get it started.. it wont start now regardless of if i have the timing set correctly or not.. i pulled the cap off again and put #1 at tdc on the compression stroke and marked the rotor location and lined up the #1 on the cap and checked the firing order.. and nothing.. would not start.. turned over fine.. no start...

i replaced the cap and rotor.. and used the timing light to check all the plug wires and the light pulsed for every wire so it seemed the wires were getting spark.. but the boat would not start..

thanks

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

6 volts to the coil while cranking is insufficient, and you may have fouled the plugs with gas from all the cranking. Pull the plugs and see if they're fouled with raw gas, if so replace them. If your only gettin 6 volts to the coil, spark is going to be weak. Use a jumper wire from battery positive to the coil positive and try it again. NOTE; to kill engine you will have to remove the jumper wire.

Another note, the engine has a better chance of starting with the timming a little high rather than being a little slow.

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

thanks reel.. what would cause the drop from the battery to the coil thou? is the battery just bad? as i said.. i had 12v at coil when ignition switched on but when cranking it drop to the 6-7 range.. but when i cranked it over and just checked the battery it still put out 12v.. now it seems like i have a bad solenoid as well.. bugger..

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

anybody have any trouble shooting steps to try to find out why I seem to be getting low volts to the coil when cranking the engine? this just a battery issue? or related to the bad solenoid? thanks everybody..

 

[twilloug]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

Did you resolve the issue with your ignition? How is your Ignitor II wired? If you have 12V to the coil with the key on, you should be ok wiring the Ignitor to the coil directly.

I just installed the ignitor II on my 81' Merc 260 last night. It started right up and idled a little high. (1k RPM)

I did notice on mine when it was cranking with the points on it, I was getting 8.5-9.5 volts at the + side of coil. 12.5V with key on and not cranking.

What year is your boat?

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

i did.. i got a new cap.. rotor.. plugs.. plug wires.. and a new starter battery.. old one was leaking and was dead when i went to get the boat again.. its a 1982

and got the timing set and it fires up fine now and im getting about 20-20.5 on vacuum gauge at 670-680 rpm.. sneed some serious carb tuning.. was 15 and twitchy on the gauge before i tuned up the carb to get it to 20.. i still think i am a bit rich thou.. but seems to be fine now..

 

[twilloug]

Re: starting problem.. what to do next?

Thanks for the update. I took my boat out yesterday and it ran fine for the first couple of hours. (We had a little trouble trying to set the timing after the Ignitor II install.) Anyway my plugs and wires are both two years old with very little use on them. My battery was new two years ago.

Anyway, I noticed that all day the boat volt meter was reading about 11 volts. I didn't think anything of it....just figured the guage was a little off. Taking the battery in today to get it tested. I guess a bad battery would cause the Ignitor to not work right.

What did you have your boat timed at? Having a heck of a time finding the mark with the light. We ended up just doing it by ear. It did idle and run well all day.