Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

This is an OMC 2.3 inboard.

Last season I had it running great. This season I took it out of storage and it started right up, and I've had it out 3-4 times with no issues.

Don't know if this is related but the last time bringing it home I got caught in a rainstorm and the motor got wet (I have to remove my cover because it blows off on the freeway).

Tried to run it this weekend and it would not start.

I checked my points gap, did some other things and finally got it to run, but rough and it died on the lake twice. When it was down I could not get spark from the ignition coil. I tried a spare new ignition coil and still had issues. When I did get spark it was very weak visually (holding the coil wire near a ground).

Even though I rebuilt the distributor last season I'm gonna start there, along with new plugs. But I'm really thinking the issue starts before the distributor. The ESA has been removed and replaced with a relay, which I unplugged to make sure that wasn't killing the ignition. I also bypassed the kill switch just to make sure that wasn't it. I am considering replacing the hot wire from the starter relay (those connections were checked) to the coil with a heavier wire and a resistor, can anyone recall how much voltage is supposed to get to the coil?

Any other suggestions to attack this problem? Though the motor was uncovered the carb cover and flame arrester was on, so I doubt I got water in the intake. I'm pretty sure it's an ignition issue.

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Are you getting a spark at the plugs? Harbor Freight makes a nifty little tester to check that/

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Boomyal said:

Are you getting a spark at the plugs? Harbor Freight makes a nifty little tester to check that/

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I had one of the mock spark plug testers, but it was pretty bright out there so if there was a spark it was pretty weak. I couldn't see one but she eventually turned over so it must have been there.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Does that mean it started up for you?

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Yes, it started, but ran rough and occasionally wouldn't start again after shutting it off.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

projo198 said:

Yes, it started, but ran rough and occasionally wouldn't start again after shutting it off.

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Test it with your little device when it is darker out.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Boomyal said:

Test it with your little device when it is darker out.

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Yes, but I need to figure out why I am not getting spark from the coil before I can worry about getting spark at the plugs.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Well, do you have power to the coil? Maybe you need to consider a Pertronix II ignitor and get rid of the points and condensor?

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Boomyal said:

Well, do you have power to the coil? Maybe you need to consider a Pertronix II ignitor and get rid of the points and condensor?

Click to expand...

I did not have a voltmeter with me yesterday, but today I am going to check voltage at both the wire coming from the starter solenoid (12V) and the wire coming from the alternator (8-9V). I would like to upgrade the resistor wire and install an in-line resistor to completely eliminate that being a problem.

As for the electronic ignition; I guess I just feel more comfortable with points since I have figured them out (mostly). I would like to get what I have operational before I try swapping it out entirely.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

Last year I bought a Pertronix ignitor II for my 4.3l. It works great except for the stupid adaptive dwell. It causes rough running at idle sometimes. I have that inline spark tester and it shows that any givin cylinder does not fire sometimes at idle. I just purchased an ignitor I and am going to install it on friday. I also bought a beeper that I will wire to beep when the engine is not running but the key is on. (Because the ignitor I will burn up if you leave the key on without the engine running). I have a bag with the old points and condenser in the boat just incase things stop working. Go with the ignitor I if you are considering an electronic ignition.

Re: Had a bad weekend on the lake, have some ignition system questions.

I may down the road, for now I am going to stick with points.

I discovered the wire that goes from the ignition coil to the starter solenoid was on the wrong stud, and was getting a steady 12V constant instead of just during cranking like it should.

I am having some issues with properly wiring that solenoid now though. I put that wire on the stud that is only hot during cranking, but that makes the boat crank with the key in just the "run" position. Weird.