no spark!

Hello all, I am a new user to this forum and also a new boat owner to boot. I heard some great things about the people here and was really hoping to get some advice? Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer any!
Here's the scoop: Earlier this summer I bought a 1995 regal rush xp with the 90hp mercruiser 90hp. The man I bought it from had it stored (and winterized) since last year and told me "many components" had been rebuilt, etc. The boat fired right up the first time when I bought it and has ever since with no issues what so ever...until now. A tid bit of history: I was warned this boat had a few quarks. It would never start in the water if not started out of water shortly before going in the water. There is also a little ritual I was shown to go through to start it...choking, priming, etc. I've had it out close to 20 times so far this summer with no issues at all. The other day I was getting ready to take it out and went through the usual ritual and when I got it in the water, it wouldn't start.

So, out we came and back home. I'm again a novice boat owner, but not totally helpless, mechanically, just not very experienced. I started with the basic troubleshooting:fuel and spark. I thoroughly checked out the fuel system and after deciding there was no water, clogs, kinks, etc and the fuel pump was still good, I went to the electrics (which unfortunately I stink at). I have NOT removed the flywheel because I don't have the tool to do it. I did however start from the starter and work forwards. It cranks, no change in pitch or any strange smells or taps, or anything...I don't have a volt meter, but I do have the little tester that flashes when it senses current. It showed voltage all the way up to the switch box. I tested (and even changed) the spark plugs because they did look quite fouled but even the new ones had absolutely no spark at all. (1,2, or 3). Through reading several other forums, this leads me to believe it's the cdi switch box, which I am hoping it's not. the 20amp fuse is good, grounds are good but I am stumped. I don't want to shell out $300 if I don't have to for a new switch box only to find out that is not the cause. I read somewhere I could have the trigger and stator tested somewhere for fairly cheap before deciding that it was the switch box? By the way, I know what a stator and trigger are, just not on this vessel. This is where I get lost. I've looked at schematics till my eyes have crossed and I am afraid I am just getting in too deep for my level of knowledge.

Can anyone tell me if I'm on the right track? Thank you!

Re: no spark!

You have an outboard bizkits, not an IO, I will move this over to the Mercury outboard forum. I'm sure you will find the help you need.

Re: no spark!

No, its an inboard...I should have clarified...the mercruiser sportjet 90...its a jet boat

Re: no spark!

ok so the stater and trigger and power pack yay your in for a lot of fun but hopefully we can get you fixed frist thing first the stator and trigger are very simple but one thing you need to get is at walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Equus-3320-Innova-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/14644666 go there and get this one you want to have it for as long as you live it will simplify your life in so many ways once you get the hang of things. the stator/magnito same thing really and trigger are under the flywheel the stator is round and has coils for magnets on the flywheel to pass by and charge the coils to create ac power (alternating current just like a house electric) that is the first thing to check there are 6 wires that usally come out of it two yellows most of the time the will come from under the flywheel wrapped together then go to the power pack/switch box and the two yellow go over to the voltage regulator with the you will be taking the wires off the power pack so your gonna need tools for that then you need that multi meter set to ohms third notch to the right of off I will do the research to find the correct amount of ohms that are suposed to be between a set of wires and which wires are the set if it is in range then stator is fine then the trigger is the same thing the trigger is like a set of point but its done with magnets to sense when to tell the power pack/ switch board when and which cylinder to fire it to has a ohm reading that has to be within a certain range if its if those two test good then its time to take flywheel off to check the magnets i have a easy way to get it off without using a expensive puller just take the nut off and go to hardware store and match the nut to a bolt make sure it threads all the way up and all the way down the find a bolt that matches the bolt take it back home take a tire iron and a 2-3 lbs sledge thene find a place that is good a strong that you can knock the tire iron under flywheel to apply up pressur to the flywheel but before you wedge it under ther look down at the middle of flywheel there is a cut away / notch for a keyway point the notch to where the tire iron will be and put the new nut on and thread it till its level on the crankshalf (bolt sticking out of center of flywheel) wedge you tire iron very tightly under flywheel and hit the nut with a good strond force (dont hit it like you sis) it will pop right off (wont fly at you just come loose) mark flywheel with tape to the right so you dont get confused (it only goes on one way but it will make the next step easier it your magnets are unglued and loose) now slowly take flywheel off if any of the magnets are loose be sure to match them to flywheel how it cam off some have a reverse poles and have to be in right place for balance hopefully they are loose at this point cause if magnets are still in place and not broke up in peices and the trigger and stator test fine then you need a power pack or a bad ground somwhere check all wires everywhere clean any corrion you find and you have to check for spark on all cylinders they each have their own coil but if you had any youd have some pops p.m. and we will talk further doing it yourself will save alot of money and parts you didint have to buy dont ever just throw parts at it

Re: no spark!

http://issuu.com/cdielectronics/docs/troubleshootingguide this is your guide to fixing your problem click it and read

Re: no spark!

ok, so I decided before pulling off flywheel and messing with all that, I better double check everything. much to my relief, as soon as I disconnected rev limiter and ran power directly to motor-there's spark! part: $57! (but still had to order it-luckily there's a mecury certified shop close by-they knew exactly which part it was...got to chatting and bs'ing with them and one of the mechanics there is a big sj guy...asked me to bring it by, so I did...they were nice enough to run a free compression check for me and within minutes, also found out while they were looking at the huge mess of wires that acc and motor power are both running off one hot lead and only protected with a 5amp fuse (I had no idea)...so, they asked for $45 to "clean up the shade-tree wiring...so I bit-I HATE wiring and electrics! I hope that wasn't too bad of a scam" lol...thank you everyone for your help!

Re: no spark!

I think you did OK for $45 to clean up the wiring. Electrics/electronics cause more peeps to pull out their hair or what's left of it. Did the motor start with the rev limiter disconnected?

BTW - Welcome to iboats, bizkits.