I recently picked up a 1973 9.8 Thunderbolt and i cant get any spark. History on the motor: Previous owner had it since new and swears it probaly has less than 20 hours on it. He sold the boat it was on years ago and the motor has been in the garage ever since. (we've all heard that story)When i took the cowl off of it this motor looks immaculate. I seriously dont think there has ever been a screw or bolt turned on it since new. The only thing i could obviously see wrong was the wires to the kill switch were corroded and cracked. After turning the motor a time or two, i checked, and wasnt getting any spark. I disconnected the kill switch wires to eliminate them grounding out anywhere and still no spark. I pulled the rewind starter and flywheel, took the cover off the module and checked the wiring and points, wiring looked as new with no corrosion or broken wires at all. The points were pretty much corroded though. I filed them down clean and checked the gap hoping to put it back together and see at least a weak spark but still nothing. Sanding down the points doesnt seem to work on these outboards like it did on my old trucks. Anyone have any ideas about what i need to take a look at next? I do have a mercury factory service manual for this motor but it doesnt have much about troubleshooting in it, other than checks you can do to ohm out the stator and coils. I just thought there might be someone here that could point me towards something that might be pretty common to these motors not firing. Thanks for any and all help.
