Volvo AQ125 problems

[romeo20808]

I have a bayliner with the Aq125 engine. I just started to have problems starting it. I have replaced the points, condensor, coil,wires,plugs,cap and rotors. But I am getting very little spark. If anyone could suggest a solution for this it would be much appreciated

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

Hi romeo, welcome to iboats!!<br /><br />You will need a multi-meter and perform some simple tests.<br /><br />Compared to electronic, points ignition is relatively simple to diagnose. Just replacing the parts will not always bring the beast back to life. <br /><br />Some things to check - when new, points have a protective coating, give them a clean with a piece of cardboard soaked in carbyclean or brakeclean (something that evaporates and leaves no residue). <br /><br />Double check the gap and then finely tune the gap by using a dwell meter, make sure that your feeler gauge is spotlessly clean.<br /><br />Test for voltage at the '+' terminal of the coil (ignition 'on'). With the points open, you should have battery voltage (12v). With the points closed, you should see 7 - 9 volts.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[romeo20808]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

Thanks for the reply. I will give that stuff a shot and let you know what happens with it. I didn't clean off the new points so I am going to give that a shot first

 

[romeo20808]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

ok, cleaned he points and checked the gaps again. I checked the voltage while open I get 12 volts, while closed I get 10.8 to 11. Getting tough to figure out, it was running fine all summer then one day it wouldn't start I noticed some oil leaking out of the coil so I replaced that first but no luck there.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

Your ballast resistor ain't great, that's probably what fried your coil (over a period of time), that being said, with a new coil you should be seeing a nice bright 'snap' of a spark.<br /><br />Did the spark get any better after you cleaned/check the points?<br /><br />Do you have a tach?

 

[romeo20808]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

I replaced the coil and cleaned the points and the spark got slightly better. But still not enough to get it started. I don't currently have a tach for it. Thanks for all of your help so far

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

So there is nothing (except the distrubutor wire) connected to the coil '-' terminal?

 

[romeo20808]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

nope just the distributer wire is connected, I was wondering if there might be a resistor somewhere that could be bad causing that low spark problem. Thanks again

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Volvo AQ125 problems

You have a resistor inline that feeds the coil when the ignition is 'on'. But you are seeing 10.8 - 11 volts, which means it isn't broken. 11 volts will burn up the points OVER TIME but not immediately. With new points/coil, you should be seeing a good spark.<br /><br />Also, you are testing your spark while 'cranking', the resistor is bypassed while cranking. You are seeing 12volts, which is good.<br /><br />My guess is that you have a good spark and the problem is elsewhere OR the points and/or condenser is faulty (cheap to replace, try that first).<br /><br />Aldo