mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

[kk158]

Tried to start my boat last night, found it had no spark. Checked pwr at the coil had 12v at + side, a pulse flash at the - side during crank. If I short the points arm to ground I get spark from the coil wire, repeatedly. The interupter is not engaged because I can manually function it and watch my test light turn off and on. Points could be the problem but they LOOK brand new. Been a mechanic 30yrs never seen this before. Maybe a condenser?

 

[Bondo]

Re: mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

I'm Betting that the points are Glazed Over,......<br /><br />Run a piece of doubled over emery cloth thru them,+ You'll Find your Spark...........<br /><br />Or,... Possibly,........<br /><br />Check to make Sure you haven't Lost the Ground on that side of the Points............<br />Could be a little spot of Corrosion hidden in there.......

 

[kk158]

Re: mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

I took the points out cleaned the contacts installed, regapped. still nothing...

 

[rattana]

Re: mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

What does the distributor cap and rotor look like. Any corrosion at those contact points will severely weaken the spark. Also check your high tension lead between the coil and dist. If you put a spark plug in the high tension lead from the coil do you get spark?

 

[kk158]

Re: mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

Well in case anyone runs into this.. The points looked perfect. I filed, cleaned,reset,and no spark. The only solution was they were just bad. Replaced with a new set and wa-la, spark. Thanks to all that replyed.

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser 1982 mdl.120 no spark

A boat should have a full tuneup every spring, this includes points, condenser, cap, rotor, sparkplugs, setting the dwell, then setting timing, checking advance timing, adjusting the carb mixture, and resetting the idle speed.<br />This is done every year before the first time out.<br />You also end up boating all season, not fixing problems somewhere in between.<br />Hopefully, all the drive work, filters, lubing was done already, or we'll talk with ya later.