No spark, 91 536

[Fscott4]

3.0 liter with points. OK, boat is new to me as are marine engines. I am not getting spark. There is power to the points (new) but none to the plugs. I had the starter relay off because I was having starter issues and I now see I have a single black wire hanging in the vicinity of the relay and am thinking maybe this is related. The relay is a 4 post and I'm pretty sure I wired it exactly as it was. Does one of the small posts have 2 wires?
Could this be coil related?
Very frustrating as the engine was trying to start before I put new points, plugs, cap and rotor on.
Any direction would be welcome!
Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... The solenoid has it's ground wire attached, 'n you could piggyback the spare there,.....
Is there power to the coil's tiny (+) terminal,..??
Is the points wire connected to the coil's tiny (-) terminal,..?? any other wires,..??

Where are you checkin' for spark, 'n how,..??

How did a '91 motor end up with a points distributor,..?? it should be electronic,..??

 

[Fscott4]

Im checking for spark with an inline tester between boot and plug. I will piggyback that wire to the solenoid tomorrow eve. Is that wire from the relay or do you think its been hangin there for a while? I'm pretty good with putting things back the way they were, but...
The points wire is connected to the (-) on the coil. no other wires I can see just the mystery wire.
When I piggyback the mystery wire do I want to do the (-) side or (+) side of the coil? it seems the negative side is providing power to the points?
There is power to the coil.
I just went out to check the coil power and just for fun put the inline tester back on and kicked it over. I now have spark to the plugs...
should be great news but Im confused now.

 

[dubs283]

it seems the negative side is providing power to the points?

It provides ground for the coil until the points open. When they open the voltage from the (+) side of the coil primary has no easy path to ground. Hence the output of high voltage from the secondary, main post, of the coil to provide voltage to the distributor cap.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Service the points
File them
Rough gap them
Set dwell with a meter
Set timing

 

[Fscott4]

Service the points
File them
Rough gap them
Set dwell with a meter
Set timing

points are new, cap and rotor are new. I have to do a little research on setting dwell, last time I used a dwell meter was in shop class in 74.

 

[dubs283]

How To: Tune-up Your Engine with Points Ignition

***Please read through ALL the information before attempting any procedure listed here and before asking ANY questions*** ***This tutorial is designed to explain step by step the proper procudures for a COMPLETE tune-up of an engine with points ignition. If you don't know if your engine has a...

forums.iboats.com

 

[Scott06]

points are new, cap and rotor are new. I have to do a little research on setting dwell, last time I used a dwell meter was in shop class in 74.

If you didnt set the dwell after replacing points it may not fire. Read through what dubs posted. Points havent changed since 74…

 

[Scott Danforth]

points are new, cap and rotor are new. I have to do a little research on setting dwell, last time I used a dwell meter was in shop class in 74.

New still need to be filed

Dwell meter will not only tell you when you haved them gapped properly, however will also work as trouble shooting

 

[Alumarine]

Did you have it running before you changed the ignition parts?