Good morning everyone,
I have a 1994 Four Winns Horizon 180. I had it running about a week ago for the first time this year (kids sports delay the season for us). Put it in the water yesterday and wouldn't start. Would turn over but wouldn't start.
Took the cover off, definitely has gas going to/through the carb.
Pulled a plug, grounded and checked for spark and didn't get any spark. There's power to both sides of the coil and there's power coming out of the coil to the distributor. The rotor was replaced last year and it is rotating.
Any suggestions of how to diagnose further?
Thank you so much for any help you can provide.
You stated you had power to both sides of the coil, but have you removed the coil to check the primary and secondary winding resistance? According to my 1992 manual for the Carb 5.0, the primary winding is supposed to be 1.43 ohms to 1.58 ohms. The secondary is 7.5 to 8.7Kohms. If you are unsure of how to perform this check, google and youtube are your friend, like always.
As for the distributor, no replacement is required unless you know by visual inspection that the shaft of the distributor is bent or if the drive gear is sheared. In most cases, I distributor is replaced only if the components aren't sold separately but as a complete assembly i.e. certain Honda distributors from the early 90's.
It could be possible that your ESA (Electronic Shift Assist) module could be malfunctioning which in this case, you could just unplug it and try to start the engine. The ESA is responsible for dropping out ignition pulses for the specific purpose of allowing the gears to mesh easier. If your linkages are set properly, the ESA only works for an instant as the Power Lever is moved from Neutral to Drive. It's also possible that your tachometer could be malfunctioning and grounding out. Try disconnecting the tach signal wire to eliminate that possibility. The idea is to simplify the problem to the most basic components and see what happens.
Depending on the condition of your engine, you have electrical components that are over 24 years old. The distributor is the last item I would suspect since it's basically a spinning shaft held in place with bronze bushings.
If you suspect the ignition pickup, you can buy a new aftermarket replacement. A couple years ago, they didn't have these available. Your factory ignition pickup part number is 987194. Pertronix has been manufacturing point replacement setups for years. I have installed 3 of them over the years on different vehicles and they work great.
https://www.amazon.com/Pertronix-1589-Prestolite-Cylinder-Ignitor/dp/B004OXPDC4
Hopefully some of this info will guide you to a solution. Good luck!
