1990 Force L-Drive 90hp -- Can't get it to idle -- losing my mind :D

[Solace]

Turns out yes. I am careless. Well, partially, my crimps did not hold on two of the cyl 3 trigger to CDI wires.
I just did these wires. Cannot believe they let go.
Firing on cylinder 3 again. Going back to resolver EVERYTHING then a lake test.

 

[las]

The charm of old corroded boat wires........ It's a real pain.

 

[The Force power]

IF?? your running it in the driveway , just bend over and look above the prop.
The snout should be hanging there?
You ask for help but don't seem to really want to do anything but the far fetched things. ?????

Octane Jerry octane

 

[The Force power]

Turns out yes. I am careless. Well, partially, my crimps did not hold on two of the cyl 3 trigger to CDI wires.
I just did these wires. Cannot believe they let go.
Firing on cylinder 3 again. Going back to resolver EVERYTHING then a lake test.

This is a step in the right direction!
I'm glad this solved

 

[The Force power]

Did anybody else notice the red silicone between the two halves?

 

[Solace]

Im
Having the weirdest issue. It’s the stator for sure. I can only get two wires to fire. It’s brand new from Crowley, 4 wires have to match into 3.

trigger is fine, correct readings, but man, it’s for sure the stator.

 

[racerone]

On more than one occasion you have stated that motor runs and has spark on all 3 leads ???----Orderly trouble shooting must be a secret.

 

[Redbarron%%]

You have measured the resistance from the Brown, White, and Purple wires to the black/white and got ~1200 ohms on each?
Why do you think it is the stator? have you measured the resistance of the windings?
The next thing is to measure the voltage with a DV meter with the engine running.
Step by step troubleshooting.
CDI has a trouble shooting guide posted on the web.
Just a little while a go all three cylinders had spark. What happened there?
Have you checked the wires from the plugs to the coil and the connections from the coils to the DCI terminal strip?
If you pull and short the plug wires you can swap the wires from one of the other coils with #3. You can also try swapping perhaps #2 with #3 to see if it will fire.
Check one thing and be careful and logical, step by step.
I guess you have pulled the flywheel to replace the trigger coil. What was the condition of the outer magnets? Cracked? loose?
Do you have the red stator and the hershey bar adapter (if that is applicable to the 90 on the L drive.
The old black has high and low speed coils to drive the CDI box where the red stator does not and must have the adapter.
The rev limiter will inhibit one cylinder and it might well be the purple wire (#3 as I recall). The rev limiter might be a problem if is is connected (Black/Yellow) (I looked and did not see the rev limiter on the Thunderbolt ignition so that may not be installed on this engine.)
There is a troubleshooting guide in the 1993 - 1994 Sport Jet manual I gave you a link to as well.

 

[topgun3690]

Did anybody else notice the red silicone between the two halves?

RTV? In direct continuous contact with gasoline.....NOT A PROBLEM!!

 

[Solace]

This is so weird, let me make a diagram:



This is bonkers. I know for sure the trigger, CDI and Coils are working. I can wire each trigger individually and test that circuit, it for sure works. When I hook them all up, I only EVER get 2. I feel like I may have gotten 3, but that was intermittent.

What I feel like is my 4 wire Stator is being wired in to my 3 CDI boxes wrong. I've got the diagram from crowley and followed that, but I feel like it's not working.

Here is the stock diagram:


But it feels like the Stator is not in phase. If I move stuff around I can get that particular circuit to work, but not in phase.

I feel like the correct wiring would be like:



Note here that I swap the 4 and 3 stator leads. But this means they are not the same colors on the diagram:

brown/yellow -> brown/yellow

would be come

brown/yellow -> blue/brown

This seems obviously wrong from the wiring color. I don't want to try this and accidently blow anything, but at the moment, there is NOTHING I can do that makes these components fire 3 cylinders. Each can work on their own, the circuits are not destroyed, but they don't work "together".

 

[Solace]

RTV? In direct continuous contact with gasoline.....NOT A PROBLEM!!

Can you show me what you're talking about instead of just making fun of me? I don't want to explode.

 

[Solace]

On more than one occasion you have stated that motor runs and has spark on all 3 leads ???----Orderly trouble shooting must be a secret.

I'm inexperienced and it "SOUNDED" good, it even moved the boat at 6mph. In reality, I was excited and misinformed; it is running on 2 cylinders with 2/3 power.

 

[Solace]

So I've traced the paths here. This is how the boat is configured. It is not firing on Cyl 1.

New Ignition Coils, CDI's and Stator.

If I mess around and replace a path of one current to cyl 1, that hardware works, so I know it's not 'broken'.

WTFFFF is going on lol I just want to take my kids boating.

The only thing that isn't brand new is the Trigger, which is measuring ~50 ohms across 11/22/33 which is text book nominal.

 

[Solace]

So here's what I was saying, if I swap the STATOR 4 and STATOR 1 brown/yellows I can get CYL #1 and CYL #3 to switch between which runs.

CYL #2 runs all the time.

 

[jerryjerry05]

How are you testing for spark?? A spark tester? or holding the plug on the block?
The trigger leads are very thin and under the shrink wrap on the connector the thin wire breaks and you can have intermittent spark. Thought you fixed the faulty wire connections?
I replace ALL of the connectors when I have a problem with one.
A stator can test good and still be bad
You have a DVA meter? You using an analog meter or digital?
If you only have spark on 1??? I doubt it would start??

 

[The Force power]

The rev limiter will inhibit one cylinder and it might well be the purple wire (#3 as I recall). The rev limiter might be a problem if is is connected (Black/Yellow) (I looked and did not see the rev limiter on the Thunderbolt ignition so that may not be installed on this engine.)
There is a troubleshooting guide in the 1993 - 1994 Sport Jet manual I gave you a link to as well.

They're not equipped with a rev limiter & I posted a direct link for his ignition troubleshooting guide. (perhaps in vane)

 

[The Force power]

Can you show me what you're talking about instead of just making fun of me? I don't want to explode.

The wrong sealer was used when the engine was put together, the red silicone is used for hot are areas where clearance-gaps are not important such as oil-pans/valve-covers and such.
this silicone is too thick to put between the two halves of the block, resulting in the crank not sitting in tight & the seals & such not sealing.

 

[Solace]

How are you testing for spark?? A spark tester? or holding the plug on the block?
The trigger leads are very thin and under the shrink wrap on the connector the thin wire breaks and you can have intermittent spark. Thought you fixed the faulty wire connections?
I replace ALL of the connectors when I have a problem with one.
A stator can test good and still be bad
You have a DVA meter? You using an analog meter or digital?
If you only have spark on 1??? I doubt it would start??

- I have a timing gun, I can reliably show spark on it (I think).
- I thought I fixed the trigger leads too and they just kept breaking lol
- I have a brand new stator from Crowley marine
- No DVA meter so I can do resistance checks only I guess
- I am now missing spark on CYL #1, but I can swap the Stator brow/yellow and get CYL #3 to fire instead of CYL #1. Back and forth we go.

It's like the Stator only has 2 active leads. See the wiring outline above I guess :/

 

[Solace]

The wrong sealer was used when the engine was put together, the red silicone is used for hot are areas where clearance-gaps are not important such as oil-pans/valve-covers and such.
this silicone is too thick to put between the two halves of the block, resulting in the crank not sitting in tight & the seals & such not sealing.

Oh. Well I'm hoping that's not causing my issue... Is it?

 

[racerone]

Silicone sealer on crankcase halves is a mistake.