79 Silverline
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 32
I don't want this to be interpreted as a slam against CDI. Everything I've heard about them has been positive. Every time I've dealt with them, they've gone above and beyond. They seem to know what they're doing. I'd still recommend them to anybody. I just have some questons about a couple things that concern me. I'd like to be proven wrong, actually.<br /><br />I'd like to start with a question - how many people are running a 2986 type ignition system from CDI? I'm talking about the switchbox and coil combo that replaces the Merc switchbox and original coil. How much use do you put on it, and how much higher RPM (3000 rpm and up) running do you do?<br /><br />I've recently encountered an incident where the coil onboard the 2986 unit shorted internally, causing spark to be too weak to make it to the plugs. Upon asking CDI about it, a technician told me that "about 1 in 200 coils" fail, and offered to send me another. They also told me that an ignition coil from a later model OMC coil would work. So I pulled my coil and noticed the potting compound had cracked. I took it to a local 'rude dealer and sure enough he recognized it as a very common Johnson/Evinrude coil. Upon looking the coil up, it turns out these coils are a COIL ON PLUG type of coil. I find it hard to believe that a single one of these coils would be very happy lighting off all 6 on a tower of power roaring away at 5 grand, when they were designed to fire one cylinder. Hmm.<br /><br />I did end up eventually frying this coil as well during the trip, though I had packed a spare purely for this reason. In all fairness, he sold me a used coil (I was outta time for a trip and he didn't have a new one). However, the failure occured almost exactly in the same amount of run time as my brand new CDI one. I don't think it's a coincidence. I currently have a new Johnson/Evinrude coil in place, and fear that my time is ticking every time I take it above idle.<br /><br />What do you guys think? How do I solve this problem? I've contemplated closing the gap between my rotor and cap terminals to where they almost rub to reduce the peak voltage the coil must fire at, but can't think of anything else to do. Anybody have any experiences to prove/disprove my theory? I would really love to hear about somebody using this system on an I6 and running WOT all day for an entire season with no problem, because that would give me hope.