Found my stolen boat! Wiring nightmare, no fire

[Daren1093251]

Hey!! Long story short, back in 2009 our 1976 Starcraft with a OMC 2.5 was stolen, and finally this year in 2022 we found it sitting in the bush!! It’s a darn disaster but its so fantastic to finally see it again after having forgotten about it!

Whoever stole it, messed everything up. I got the boat to turn over (by jumping solenoid, key on the “start” position still gives power, but doesn’t open the solenoid to start) but theirs no spark.

Went through the typical list , points & condenser, looked fantastic still cleaned the contact, put new plugs (since I had some laying around) the coil have power to both positive and negative side, I unplugged the low oil safety light (incase it mattered) unplugged the grey wire from coil that does the Shift Interrupt Switch, still no spark.

Obviously, probably a wiring issue, or something else is dead.

Is there a way to actually “hot wire” the motor to confirm its a wiring issue or a parts issue? I remember the old Ford 3.0L you used to jump a positive cable directly from battery to coil and that would bypass the key.
Yes, I do have the key, it’s a spare from all those years ago.

Any input on which way to start would be awesome, thank you!!!

 

[docmirror]

If you have 'power' to the negative side of the coil, that's a problem. "have power to both positive and negative side". Use a VOM and measure the resistance of the coil leads. the neg side of the coil leads to the points which complete the circuit. Either the coil has a short internal, or there is a stray path for voltage to reach the neg side of the coil.

 

[Scott Danforth]

put power to the + side of the coil from the B+ and you are now "hot wired"

then turn the motor over

however if you did not set the points with a dwell meter, go back to the points

 

[Daren1093251]

If you have 'power' to the negative side of the coil, that's a problem. "have power to both positive and negative side". Use a VOM and measure the resistance of the coil leads. the neg side of the coil leads to the points which complete the circuit. Either the coil has a short internal, or there is a stray path for voltage to reach the neg side of the coil.

i will change the coil and see if that was the issue, was not aware that the negative was not supposed to be powered but it seems obvious now that you mention it . Much appreciated!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's never the coil

 

[docmirror]

Yeah, Scott makes a point. Coils are pretty robust. They usual failure mode is under heat with the coil breakdown internally. I would look for some wiring, or other stray path. But first, start with the VOM, and verify you have ~12V on the coil neg terminal.

I'm not one to advocate just throwing parts, but the points and condenser would be my first change out, no matter condition.

 

[Daren1093251]

Yeah, Scott makes a point. Coils are pretty robust. They usual failure mode is under heat with the coil breakdown internally. I would look for some wiring, or other stray path. But first, start with the VOM, and verify you have ~12V on the coil neg terminal.

I'm not one to advocate just throwing parts, but the points and condenser would be my first change out, no matter condition.

yes, will order them tomorrow after the new year, they are cheap and good “insurance” for the future. Thank you for the guidance

 

[Scott Danforth]

Points will last 15-20 years with maintenance

Use a dwell meter. It will tell you if your condenser is bad, etc as well as get the setting correct.

Over 1 million coils a year are changed and only about a dozen are actually bad. Do your troubleshooting first vs throwing parts at it

 

[Redrig]

I hate to sound like Mr. Negative, Its a cool story and I am glad you got your boat back........ But with snow on that boat and considering it was stolen and then later abandoned I would be trying to figure out if the block / manifolds were drained and winterized before trying to fire it up and spending any money on it.

Your engine and manifolds may be all cracked up if that thing wasn't drained. That may change what direction you ultimately want to go with the boats restoration.

Good luck with it.

 

[Daren1093251]

Yeah, Scott makes a point. Coils are pretty robust. They usual failure mode is under heat with the coil breakdown internally. I would look for some wiring, or other stray path. But first, start with the VOM, and verify you have ~12V on the coil neg terminal.

I'm not one to advocate just throwing parts, but the points and condenser would be my first change out, no matter condition.

So I finally got to check today, measuring 12v on POS & NEG of the coil, so that checks out. I have the points & condenser on order, since I believe they have not been changed since we owned it way back then (unless the thieves changed them..)

Will start tracing wires tonight. Thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

So I finally got to check today, measuring 12v on POS & NEG of the coil, so that checks out.

No it doesnt. either your points are open or other issues.

I have the points & condenser on order, since I believe they have not been changed since we owned it way back then (unless the thieves changed them..)

Will start tracing wires tonight. Thanks

 

[Daren1093251]

I hate to sound like Mr. Negative, Its a cool story and I am glad you got your boat back........ But with snow on that boat and considering it was stolen and then later abandoned I would be trying to figure out if the block / manifolds were drained and winterized before trying to fire it up and spending any money on it.

Your engine and manifolds may be all cracked up if that thing wasn't drained. That may change what direction you ultimately want to go with the boats restoration.

Good luck with it.

completely agree. Thankfully parts are plentiful and cheap , if the motor runs I will start inspecting further, I think it’s just the idea of getting it back on water all those years later that makes it worth it

 

[docmirror]

The first part of my post wasn't done. Remove the black or gray lead from the neg side of the coil. Pull the high tension lead out of the coil. Set your VOM to it's lowest resistance setting(20 ohms). Touch the red meter lead to POS, touch the black meter test lead to NEG of the coil. Record the resistance. Move the black lead from the NEG and reach down in the center well of the high tension cone. You may need a copper wire extension to the test lead. Change the meter range to 20K ohms. Record the reading.

Report back your findings.

Points, condenser test: Set the VOM to 200k ohms range. Attach the black meter test lead to the base of the dist in a clean spot. Touch the red test lead to the black or gray wire just removed from the coil(points wire). Watch the meter as you touch the red lead to the points wire. It should start off very low and rise rapidly as the condenser takes a charge IF the points are open. The meter will read near zero if the points are closed. If the reading is near zero, set the VOM range down until you get a measurable reading, all the way to 20 ohm range. Record the resistance.

You can bump the engine around to get the points both open and closed and check for the indication above in both states.

 

[Daren1093251]

The first part of my post wasn't done. Remove the black or gray lead from the neg side of the coil. Pull the high tension lead out of the coil. Set your VOM to it's lowest resistance setting(20 ohms). Touch the red meter lead to POS, touch the black meter test lead to NEG of the coil. Record the resistance. Move the black lead from the NEG and reach down in the center well of the high tension cone. You may need a copper wire extension to the test lead. Change the meter range to 20K ohms. Record the reading.

Report back your findings.

Points, condenser test: Set the VOM to 200k ohms range. Attach the black meter test lead to the base of the dist in a clean spot. Touch the red test lead to the black or gray wire just removed from the coil(points wire). Watch the meter as you touch the red lead to the points wire. It should start off very low and rise rapidly as the condenser takes a charge IF the points are open. The meter will read near zero if the points are closed. If the reading is near zero, set the VOM range down until you get a measurable reading, all the way to 20 ohm range. Record the resistance.

You can bump the engine around to get the points both open and closed and check for the indication above in both states.

Alright! Finally got it done.

Here are my findings :

Touching NEG / POS on Coil : 1.2

High tension core 6.04

Points/condenser test : between 80 and 180 (points closed / touching)

I was unable to get any readings with points open / not touching my meter only gave me a number 1 on the far left (like if its an error of sorts…)

Mind you my lowest resistance setting on my VOM is 200. I will be ordering a new VOM this is a very old unit.. might be an issue..?

 

[Scott Danforth]

File the points
Use a dwell meter.

 

[docmirror]

You have a closed point reading of 80 to 180 ohms. This is far too high. You may file, or replace the points and condenser. This is almost certainly why you have no spark.

There's likely no need for a new VOM, the one you have seems to be doing just fine. After filing or replacement, do the same test. The "1" in the far left column means an open circuit which is good. To test your VOM and test leads, set it on the 200 range. Touch the black and red together. Record this reading(00.1, or 00.2 ohms). Whatever it is, this is your true zero. Subtract this reading from any low ohm test readings. EX: Coil reading 1.6 ohm, meter lead zero was 00.3. Real resistance of the coil is 1.3 ohm. Your coil is NOT internally ballasted. No int resistor. You should see a gray or silver rectangular small block with wires on each end nearby. This is the ballast.

The retest should show closed point test reading of "00.4" or similar with less than 1 ohm from the NEG of the coil to the point nut. If you can't get less than 1 ohm, replace the points wire from coil NEG to side of dist.

Use your old coil, and check for spark now.

 

[Daren1093251]

Hello! Just wanted to say thank you so much for all your help!! After a lot of work (for somebody who’s never really done electrical wiring) we got spark!! We turned it over and it roared to life for a half second (no water input so didn’t want too run it too long).

Ended up being the condenser , friend of mine brought one over replaced it and it worked.

Thanks so much for informing me and not making me throw parts at it like a fool.

Your help is appreciated more than you know, now for summer so our family can finally enjoy our boat!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

A dwell meter would have indicated

 

[Daren1093251]

A dwell meter would have indicated

yup, will invest in one did not have one in my toolbox yet. Thanks!!!

 

[stresspoint]

just invest in an electronic conversion if available for your motor , get rid of the now ruined filed points and the unreliable condenser.