1972 mercury 1150 (tower of power) no spark

[Mooredom91]

Haven’t ran my tower of power in 2 years. She turns over and coil pack gets power. I haven’t tested it because I set the flywheel to tdc and heard the click in the distributor. I assumed since the distributor gets power so does the coil.
Is this a safe assumption? I saw the distributor connects directly to the switch box so I’m not sure.
I think the spark stops in the distributor cap so I took it off and used sandpaper to clean off the rotor and the metal in the cap itself. Still no spark in the plugs. A buddy said it could be connections points in the distributor itself but I do not know how that works exactly.
Are there any tricks or suggestions to pinpoint the problem?
The spark plugs were wet so I dried them off and still no spark.

Please help

 

[Murky115]

I have the same problem with one I have there is a guy on YouTube that really got into fixing these motors he's forgotten more then I'll ever know

 

[Murky115]

I can seem to share anything here his name is
MerCSon L6 maybe it'll help maybe not

 

[Mooredom91]

Thanks for sending me to the right direction.

 

[Faztbullet]

Pull the wire from the coil and insert spark tester and use starter..if you have spark its usually the carbon pin in distributer

 

[Mooredom91]

@fatztbullet thanks for advice I will try this and give everyone an update to what it was

 

[Mooredom91]

Back for more advise. I pulled the wire from the coil and got a healthy spark. So I decided to try and get her started (with starter fluid), and she did. I was thinking it could have been because she sat for 2 years but even before then it was always a hard start even after running. I want to add an electric fuel pump instead of the primer bulb and connect it to my electric choke. Will this work?

 

[The Force power]

Back for more advise. I pulled the wire from the coil and got a healthy spark. So I decided to try and get her started (with starter fluid), and she did. I was thinking it could have been because she sat for 2 years but even before then it was always a hard start even after running. I want to add an electric fuel pump instead of the primer bulb and connect it to my electric choke. Will this work?

Check/replace all fuel-lines & inspect/repair fuel-pump
Check/clean Carburetors
Check compression on Cylinders
Verify the Timing is set properly

Before you try to "band aid" your problem with a electric fuel-pump

 

[racerone]

No need for an electric pump.-------But you can retrofit a primer system as found on a million or so Johnson / Evinrude motors.----Makes for a motor that will have near instant starts..

 

[Mooredom91]

Ok here we go. So she starts and runs fine (in a barrel of water). Read about some staring procedures on iboats and those seem to help tremendously. I uncovered a few things while inspecting her during idle. My electric choke isn’t working which is a fix a can handle but something I’m unsure of is a small leak of water around spark plug 1.
Can someone explain why this is happening and how to fix it?

I also uncovered that after starting and I idle down she cuts off immediately starts back up just fine but when she’s been running for 15 min or so the idle hand works just fine. No cut off or nothing.
Should I let her idle high for a second longer?

 

[Mooredom91]

sorry I didn’t post this picture with the last post but the leak is coming from the right side of the spark plug. It’s that dark spot in the top curve.

 

[The Force power]

sorry I didn’t post this picture with the last post but the leak is coming from the right side of the spark plug. It’s that dark spot in the top curve.

The Gasket between the Water-jacket & dome-Cylinders is leaking.
Not a major concern if its just a few droplets, The bolts holding it together will be seized-in solid and will break if you try to remove them. (you'll regret trying)

 

[The Force power]

I also uncovered that after starting and I idle down she cuts off immediately starts back up just fine but when she’s been running for 15 min or so the idle hand works just fine. No cut off or nothing.
Should I let her idle high for a second longer?

The "idle hand" is usually referred to as a "warm-up" lever

However it should not take 15 min. to warm up to drop that down (maybe 1 min.)
The Carburetors likely need to be adjusted AND / OR the primary pick-up