89 3.0 w/ est distributor

[Chemk]

I am not getting fire at plug or Dist cap.
I have checked the coil and pickup coil both check fine with v/o meter, replaced the ignition module.
With the key in the on position should I be getting 12 v at all 4 coil wires

 

[Chemk]

By the way the distributor is aftermarket and it was fine now it is not.

 

[alldodge]

I am not getting fire at plug or Dist cap.
I have checked the coil and pickup coil both check fine with v/o meter, replaced the ignition module.
With the key in the on position should I be getting 12 v at all 4 coil wires

Howdy

You say you have 4 coils?

The EST does not have 4 coils.

 

[fishrdan]

Sounds like DDS ignition... I have no clue how it works, but have seen it referenced in manuals.

 

[bruceb58]

Yeah, that's not an EST ignition. Probably would be a good time to switch to one though!

 

[Chemk]

It is only one coil but it has two plugs with 2 wires each- purple,gray - pink,brown. I realize the purple is incoming but I am getting 12v at all 4 wires should that be?.
Thanks Pete

 

[Chemk]

Number 17 in the pic.

 

[fishrdan]

Whoops, yes that is an EST ignition like you said.....

Here's a link to the troubleshooting procedure for the EST ignition, though it sounds like you may have this already. It doesn't say anything about coil voltages, but the resistance tests should point out a bad coil.

Mercruiser ignitions

If everything checks out and you're not getting spark I'd check the ignition's dead-man switch, shift interrupt switch and make sure the timing shunt is removed.

 

[Chemk]

I have checked coil,pickup,ignition fuse/ wires, all check fine and shift interrupt is disconnected and timing plug removed.
Still no spark anywhere.
Thanks for all the posts

 

[alldodge]

There is a gray wire going to pin 2 on the engine harness connector. This wire goes to the tach, disconnect the wire at the tach and see if you get spark. If still no spark remove connector at the coil and measure resistance from the tack wire to a good ground, it should be infinity.

 

[Chemk]

Thanks I will do that. By infinity you mean no resistance reading at all correct?.

 

[Chemk]

Thanks again
Still no spark and resistance tach wire to ground is 60 k ohm

 

[alldodge]

Thanks again
Still no spark and resistance tach wire to ground is 60 k ohm

The 60K is low, there should be Meg Ohms (infinity). Did you check the resistance levels pin to pin in the document fishrdan posted, and were the readings the same?

If they were good do you have 12V on the purple wire?

 

[Chemk]

Correction with the connector romoved from coil there is no reading or infinite I guess

 

[Chemk]

Yes and yes except the infinity you speak of,
the meter I have is auto and I am not sure I completely understand infinity does that mean no reading at all or numbers keep going and going.
Sorry for asking a dumb question.

 

[alldodge]

Yes infinity can be no reading, all depends on which meter your using and its built in sensitivity.

The weird thing is the EST is a solid system and doesn't fail very often. You checked all the readings on the coil and the module and they all check out, so I'm stumped as what the issue is. The only other item which is used to check the module is the Kent-Moore Module Tester model J24642. I still look as the test is just to verify what someone would already find by doing the resistance checks, but maybe in this case may be the only way to determine.

Hate for you to buy a module and it not be it, but when it does fail most cases that is what it is. Just don't know what to tell you

 

[fishrdan]

Infinity is like having the meter leads not touching anything.

AD brings up a good point, that a bad tach could kill the ignition. You may want to disconnect the grey wire at the tach to rule this out.

When testing the components, are you disconnecting the wire harness connectors? In post #12 it sounded like the connector was still plugged into the coil, and the reading getting skewed by backfeeding through the coil. It might not be a bad idea to unplug all the connectors and run through all the resistance tests again.

The EST needs a full 12V (battery voltage) to fire, so I would also check the voltage at the ignition, while cranking the engine over. If there is a bad connection dropping voltage to the ignition (say to 11V or so) the ignition may not fire. Be sure the battery is completely charged, the engine cranking over fast, not dragging and slow from a discharged battery. It may not be a bad idea to separate the main engine connector to check that all the pins are clean and corrosion free.

Also, did you check the dead-mans switch, the safety lanyard switch? Your boat may not have one, but we have seen people chase no-fire problems, when all it was, was the safety lanyard got pulled out inadvertently.

 

[Chemk]

I checked my multi meter instructions and it showed infinity as o.Lor overload an it is the same as not registering at all.
So back to the problem I still have no fire

 

[Chemk]

Update
Thank you to everyone for the help. I still do not know what happened in the beginning but just for shits and giggles I put the old ignition module back in and the darn thing started right up.

 

[alldodge]

My guess is corrosion