1976 OMC 302 no spark!!!

Cfinifrock

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Hi. I need help.
1977 omc 190hp 302 v8 wont start no spark. Newly replaced plugs,wires,solenoid,distributor conversion kit igniter,cap,rotor,flame thrower coil to go with electronic conversion kit. 12 volt regulator. Battery. Ignition switch. I'm on the second solenoid (motorcraft brand) that sticks when you try to start until you tap it lightly with hammer. Wires all hooked up the way they were when it ran. This boat has electric shift and being so old, I dont think it has a "shift interrupted switch" on it. Cleaned all connections and grounds. What now? Anyone?
 

Scott Danforth

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throw the points back in it for a test.
 

Cfinifrock

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Just ordered pertronix 2 and flamethrower 2 coil. There's zero videos online on installing one in a mallory distributor or 302 engine. I've watched them all. I'm going to try running a wire to the ignition from positive side of coil. Also ordered second motorcraft solenoid,first one was used and stuck on.
 

Redrig

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The hot side of the coil is not the place to power it .

What petronix did you order ?

Assuming your wiring is not butchered , you will have a ballast resistor right behind your carb and in front of the tilt solenoids .

Find the side of the ballast resistor that is full 12v in the run position , that is the place to power it from .

Your instructions , assuming you got the 91581 ignitor will tell you the same thing . Basically remove the ballast resistor from the circuit giving the ignition a full 12v .

and yes being an electric shift disregard the shift interrupt part , doesn't apply here .
 

Cfinifrock

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Ok so on the ballast resistor, there are 4 grey wires. 2 with black stripe and 2 without. The four wires go to two connections on the ballast resistor. 2 on each side. The way I understand it, I cut all these wires off the resistor, splice them all together, and your saying run my red wire from the ignitor to this point to power it. Ignitor 2 btw. 9ml-181 for mallory distributor. Seems like everything is hooked up nice,other than I obviously have the wires wrong. I am getting 12+ volts from the flamethrower coil as expected,but no spark at the plug. Its turning over now without sticling on, so I guess my new solenoid is working good. I ran a red wire from "I" on ignition directly to the + side of the coil also. Is that right? I have 2 of the grey wires from the ballast resistor going to my positi e side of the coil. One with blac k stripe and one without. So... Please...I know I just have something wrong here. Please if you can tell me how to wire this thing. All grey wires cut and connected together? And run the red ignitor 2 wire to this point also? Then I should have the magic spark? Thanks!
 

Cfinifrock

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I just tested and one side reads 11.4volts and the black striped grey wire side reads 12v with key on. I think the way I understand is to run red wire from ignitor to the black striped wires,and connect them together, and cut the grey wires and connect them separately...? Or do they all 4 go back together after I cut out the ballister?
 

alldodge

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I ran a red wire from "I" on ignition directly to the + side of the coil also. Is that right?

You need either a new wire from the I terminal to the + side of the coil

OR

Connect wires together from the resistor together

But NOT Both

The igniter module is connected by
The Red wire from the module goes to the + side of the coil
The Black wire from the module goes to the - side of the coil
 

Cfinifrock

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I have a new wire from ignition to +side of coil, and ignitor red to plus side of coil, and no spark. I'm getting a 12v reading from the coil to distributor with key on...so why no spark?
 

alldodge

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Where is the ignitor Black lead?

Does the ignitor part number include the letters "LS" ?
 

Cfinifrock

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Black from igniter goes to - side of coil. Part number is 9ml-181 ignitor 2 for mallory distributor.
 

alldodge

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So long as your distributor is NOT a YL 670 AV then it should work.

The LS is for lobe sensing and does not require a magnet, but the put number you have does have the magnet which slides over the dist shaft

The dist plate needs to clean and have a good ground to the engine block
 

Redrig

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yeah , youre wiring is exactly like mine. 2 gray and 2 gray / black

One thing you could do is grab a spare length of wire and run the red wire from the ignitor straight to the battery and try to fire it up for a quick test .
 

Cfinifrock

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Redrig, I can't seem to upload a photo. So my question is, do I cut and attach all 4 wires to each other at one point? Or do I cut and attach the 2 black stripes together,and the 2 greys together at 2 different points? And which one of those do I attach my red ignitor wire to?
 

Cfinifrock

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Mallory YL 512 CV is what it says on the distributor. Is has to be the right one because it fits nicely inside and the magnet fits right over the shaft.
 

Cfinifrock

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I'm afraid to attach the red wire from ignitor to the battery, what if I burn it up? I guess if its going to spark then it should spark hooked to battery though.
 

Redrig

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I wouldnt cut anything , just make a small wire with 2 male spade connectors on each side , and use that to tie everything together. After that is done , now everything downstream of the old resitor will have full battery voltage.

Keep in mind though , I dont have your instructions and I am going off memory from when I was going to install an ignitor 2 which for my stock dizzy was part 91581 (prestolite dizzy) I am still currently running points.

I would assume that for a mallory conceptually the process is the same , but I am not sure of that .


look at this link , about halfway down there is a pic of my engine / ballast resitor , yours look pretty much like this right ?

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...es/10769906-electric-to-mechanical-conversion

the 2 gray and black wires come OUT of the resistor and go to my points and electric choke. So if you rig a small wire , you are simply just bypassing that resistor giving everything full 12v (which is what the instructions for 91581 tell you to do)
 

alldodge

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I'm afraid to attach the red wire from ignitor to the battery, what if I burn it up? I guess if its going to spark then it should spark hooked to battery though.

Don't see any reason to connect to the battery if your getting 12V at the coil

I'm getting a 12v reading from the coil to distributor with key on...so why no spark?

Might be time to call Petronix because you may have a bad one

http://www.pertronix.com.au/contact_us.html
 

Cfinifrock

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So, the distributor used to have just a single wire to the negative on the old coil. Now, the only negative wire is from the ignitor to the coil. I assume this is grounding the distributor, as there is no way to ground the ignitor plate to the block. I cut the grey wires and spliced all 4 together. I'm getting 11.8 on everything with the key on. So I have the battery on charge. But it's brand new. I am still waiting on the flamethrower 2 coil to come, but I have the flamethrower on it, and I figure it should be enough to make it spark. I saw about 2 sparks on the plug test after I cut the ballast out, and thats it. No more sparks. I would pay like a sucker for a shop to get this right for me but nobody will tough my old boat.
 

Cfinifrock

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So, the distributor used to have just a single wire to the negative on the old coil. Now, the only negative wire is from the ignitor to the coil. I assume this is grounding the distributor, as there is no way to ground the ignitor plate to the block. I cut the grey wires and spliced all 4 together. I'm getting 11.8 on everything with the key on. So I have the battery on charge. But it's brand new. I am still waiting on the flamethrower 2 coil to come, but I have the flamethrower on it, and I figure it should be enough to make it spark. I saw about 2 sparks on the plug test after I cut the ballast out, and thats it. No more sparks. I would pay like a sucker for a shop to get this right for me but nobody will tough my old boat.
 
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