1989 Forester 2.3 Ford - No Spark, Resistor Wire?

[Robertwgriffinsr]

1989 Forester 2.3 ford. Can not find resistor for lead wire to coil? Showing full battery voltage on positive side of coil and no spark. Everything I have read says there should be a resistor in line and I can not find one?

 

[Maclin]

Welcome Aboard!

Is this boat new to you? Has it ever run ok for you? When was the last electrical tuneup?

 

[Robertwgriffinsr]

Had the boat 4 yrs now. Running fine when I parked it for a few weeks. Would not start at the boat ramp. Replaced dist. cap had a broken button on inside of coil post. The only thing I can find out of whack is I have full battery voltage to coil and should be reduced down to 7 to 9 volts. Can not find resistor. Starting to think its reduced in the wire or should be. Tried a coil with external resistor with no luck. Maybe run a new wire with a in line resistor and see what that does. To much voltage at coil keep it from firing?

 

[Scott Danforth]

no, too much voltage wont keep it from firing unless it burned out the module

go thru the troubleshooting tree in the manual.

 

[Maclin]

Shouldn't need to rewire. not yet.

I would suspect first that something is still not right with the cap and rotor.

What method are you using to determine that you have no spark. Checking at the sparkplugs, coil tower, etc.

Is the ignition a points system? I would check the dwell if you have points, that is what determines how much time the coil charges and when it gets triggered to fire. Dwell is controlled by the points gap, and their condition. The condenser is part of that system, all needs to be in working order.

If it is electronic, the module and/or triggering mechanism may have failed.

 

[Maclin]

Was the key left on when you parked it for that few weeks?

 

[Joecef]

I am curious as well, I am having the same issue. Did you end up figuring anything out with this?

 

[Joecef]

Had the boat 4 yrs now. Running fine when I parked it for a few weeks. Would not start at the boat ramp. Replaced dist. cap had a broken button on inside of coil post. The only thing I can find out of whack is I have full battery voltage to coil and should be reduced down to 7 to 9 volts. Can not find resistor. Starting to think its reduced in the wire or should be. Tried a coil with external resistor with no luck. Maybe run a new wire with a in line resistor and see what that does. To much voltage at coil keep it from firing?

So I had the same issue. Last night I found that my wire running from the starter switch to the coil is my resistor wire. I also had a external resistor. The external resistor was applying battery voltage to the coil key on and key off. I removed the resistor wire from the coil, checked the voltage it was 0. turned the key on went to battery voltage. Cranked my boat and she fired right up...... This might help???