94 omc cobra no spark

[Tylermckee123]

So the boat is a 94 striper 210 that at some point had the engine swapped out, it's a carb motor that was converted to pertronix ignitiin/distributor.

I'Flamethrower coil, pertronix distributor. I've replaced the coil, replaced the ignitor II inside the distributor, new cap and rotor, and I've got no spark.

I have 12v at the coil positivewith key on, multimeter reads between 3-12 when checking coil negative to ground (test light pulses when hooked up this way)
I get a strong spark from the coil lead when held close to ground.
Still no spark to plug wires. I've checked holding a plug on a good ground, and using an inline spark plug test light.

I've verified my cap is making contact with the spring contact on the rotor, have continuity from top contact to bottom contact on the cap, continuity from top contact of rotor to side. Other than maybe the distributor is bad and grounding out what else should I check?

Side note boat was running fine, replaced starter and exhaust manifolds and boat started for 10 seconds then died and I've had no spark since. Only thing I can think of besides distributor is maybe while doing the manifolds I broke/shorted a wire somewhere but with the tests I've done I can't pinpoint what that would be. Previous owner/owners need to have their wiring priveliges revoked as most of what was done wiring related was crappy work. Stuff like 6' of extra wire coiled up, ring terminals with nuts and bolts covered in liquid electrical tape instead of proper adhesive heat shrink butt connectors, etc. I've fixed the bulk of that work already.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you have a strong spark from the coil lead, but none to the spark plugs..... ask yourself what is in between the coil lead and the spark plugs.

that is cap, rotor and wires

by strong spark, will it jump a 3/8" gap? if not, go back to the pertronix

BTW, your old coil is most likely fine, as it is rarely the coil.

what other troubleshooting have you done?

 

[kenny nunez]

You should have a hot blue spark that will jump at least 1”. Petronics kits do not work on OMC Cobra shift systems. Just for kicks disconnect the ESA system and see if things improve. If the spark improves you will have to convert back to a points system. Without ESA working shifting will be difficult and it may cause the clutchdogs to slip in forward gear.

 

[Tylermckee123]

You should have a hot blue spark that will jump at least 1”. Petronics kits do not work on OMC Cobra shift systems. Just for kicks disconnect the ESA system and see if things improve. If the spark improves you will have to convert back to a points system. Without ESA working shifting will be difficult and it may cause the clutchdogs to slip in forward gear.

Boat ran flawlessly for the first 3 or 4 seasons I had it with the pertronix, I don't know what the previous owner did to make it work with the ESA system. I have a good strong spark that will jump 3/4-1".
Maybe when doing the manifolds I knocked some wiring loose that was making the ESA system work with the pertronix. I'm just really confused on how I have good spark going to a new cap and rotor but not getting anything to my plug wires

 

[Tylermckee123]

if you have a strong spark from the coil lead, but none to the spark plugs..... ask yourself what is in between the coil lead and the spark plugs.

that is cap, rotor and wires

by strong spark, will it jump a 3/8" gap? if not, go back to the pertronix

BTW, your old coil is most likely fine, as it is rarely the coil.

what other troubleshooting have you done?

Tested for spark at each plug, wire, nothing. Correct I have a strong spark from the coil that will jump 3/4". I ohm tested the old coil and I had 1.3 (spec is 1.5 so slightly low) between + and -, 8.5k from + to the center output. I think the old coil is good as well I just wanted to completely rule it out.

Troubleshooting I've done thus far: new cap, rotor, coil, ignitor inside dist., new plugs, wires are a couple seasons old but in good shape, new batteries, connections cleaned and tight
I'm getting 12v to coil positive with ignition on, while cranking it drops to 8-9 (less drop before but I've been draining batteries testing) hooking multimeter from batt - to coil negative I get 12v key on, fluctuates from like 3-11 while cranking. I don't think the multimeter can keep up. Test light with the same test shows the light pulsing while I crank. I've verified continuity from top to bottom of cap, verified my rotor is making contact with the cap.

I've tested 3 different cap and rotor setups. The original that was working 2 weeks ago, a new spare I had on hand (4 years old but was in a sealed bag and sparking new) and just picked up a new cap and rotor.

From what I understand there is additional wiring to get the ESA system to work with the pertronix, I'm wondering if I need to follow that circuit and see if maybe I dislodged something while doing the manifold swap.

I've been pulling my hair out trying to follow the previous owners wiring as he's chopped and spliced a lot of it, so the factory wiring diagrams I can find are about useless besides telling me what everything should be doing