Hello all,
I just joined this forum because I'm sure you can help me with my problem. So here it is: I rented a cottage for the summer and convinced a friend of mine to let me use his boat for the summer. It is a 1973 Renkin 19.5 ft bowrider with a 4cyl Mercruiser engine (which I can only assume is a 3.0 litre GM engine). Apparently, before this boat was stored last fall it was in perfect working order. He had the stern drive o/hauled and replaced the dist cap and rotor and plugs. Again, apparently the boat ran fine with this maintenance in the fall months before it was stored. So we took the boat out of outside storage and towed it down to my cottage to prepare it for this season and guess what! - it won't start! I have a limited automotive repair background (apprentice mechanic - many moons ago) and determined it was a no spark condition so the first thing I did was pull off a plug wire to and hold it close to ground (good ground tested that too) on the block while the owner cranked the starter - nothing, no spark. I then pulled the coil wire off the dist. and tried cranking again, still nothing. I then tested voltage at the coil at + terminal with key on and it is ~12.5V I did not however check voltage while cranking (just came to me). I tested voltage at neg terminal with breaker points closed and got ~12v. Points open same 12v so I assumed a faulty coil but I replaced the coil and still the same results. I then looked to the points and cleaned them still nothing. I heard it is possible for the insulation in the points to fail causing a ground so I purchased
a new set of points and a condenser but have yet to install them. I plan to go back up this weekend and replace the points and use a test light on neg terminal to check for pulse. So to make along story even longer (sorry), when I put the points and condenser in and I still get no spark what should I look to then? I have read on these forums about breakers and throttle kill switches and alike but having no marine experience I am at your mercy. Again, sorry for the long post but I didn't want to leave anything out.
In a nutshell:
1973 Renkin 19.5 Bowrider
Mercruiser 140 (3.0l GM?) with breaker point ignition
No spark from coil
Tested out of water
New owner has no clue about Marine Mechanics
I just joined this forum because I'm sure you can help me with my problem. So here it is: I rented a cottage for the summer and convinced a friend of mine to let me use his boat for the summer. It is a 1973 Renkin 19.5 ft bowrider with a 4cyl Mercruiser engine (which I can only assume is a 3.0 litre GM engine). Apparently, before this boat was stored last fall it was in perfect working order. He had the stern drive o/hauled and replaced the dist cap and rotor and plugs. Again, apparently the boat ran fine with this maintenance in the fall months before it was stored. So we took the boat out of outside storage and towed it down to my cottage to prepare it for this season and guess what! - it won't start! I have a limited automotive repair background (apprentice mechanic - many moons ago) and determined it was a no spark condition so the first thing I did was pull off a plug wire to and hold it close to ground (good ground tested that too) on the block while the owner cranked the starter - nothing, no spark. I then pulled the coil wire off the dist. and tried cranking again, still nothing. I then tested voltage at the coil at + terminal with key on and it is ~12.5V I did not however check voltage while cranking (just came to me). I tested voltage at neg terminal with breaker points closed and got ~12v. Points open same 12v so I assumed a faulty coil but I replaced the coil and still the same results. I then looked to the points and cleaned them still nothing. I heard it is possible for the insulation in the points to fail causing a ground so I purchased
a new set of points and a condenser but have yet to install them. I plan to go back up this weekend and replace the points and use a test light on neg terminal to check for pulse. So to make along story even longer (sorry), when I put the points and condenser in and I still get no spark what should I look to then? I have read on these forums about breakers and throttle kill switches and alike but having no marine experience I am at your mercy. Again, sorry for the long post but I didn't want to leave anything out.
In a nutshell:
1973 Renkin 19.5 Bowrider
Mercruiser 140 (3.0l GM?) with breaker point ignition
No spark from coil
Tested out of water
New owner has no clue about Marine Mechanics
