Mercruiser Distributor?

[panterafuy]

I have a 1988 3.0L Mercruiser and distributor is broken. I just replaced the points and rotor. In the distributor body there is a plate that attaches with 2 screws. One of the screws cracked and the plate spun around and the plate itself cracked as well. I have checked out the parts online and at a few parts dealers around town and the cheapest price for the whole unit is around $350 and all have to be ordered and cannot be delivered till the 12th ar the earliest. I guess you cannot buy the plate separately. I am looking for a quick fix because we are leaving tomarrow night and plan on taking the boat with. Any suggestions?

 

[dirtyoldman]

Re: Mercruiser Distributor?

That sounds like the advance plate. It should be the same as the automotive one, try a junkyard. On autos, they use vacuum advance to modify the iming settings. This isn;t used on boats. I believe they just screw it down to fix it in place.

Check to see if the distributor shaft is sloppy. If it is, it needs replacement anyway.

 

[Don S]

Re: Mercruiser Distributor?

The original distributors in those engines was the Delco Remy distributor. Merc stopped using them years ago and all the replacements were Prestolite.
I know our NAPA stores also carried the Prestolite distributors for the 3.0L engines, might give yours a try.

 

[ParallaxBill]

Re: Mercruiser Distributor?

"It should be the same as the automotive one, try a junkyard. On autos, they use vacuum advance to modify the iming settings. This isn;t used on boats. I believe they just screw it down to fix it in place."

That might be true for the later models but the early ones like my 73 165 L6 the advance plates are completely different with no provision for vacuum timing, ie actuator arm.

I learned this when I found my distributor had a VA (vacuum advance) arm on it when it shouldn't have. Turns out the previous owner put an automotive Pertronics ignition upgrade in it requiring an automotive advance plate instead of the correct "marine" non VA breaker plate. They just switched it out instead of buying the marine equivalent. Now I will be buying the later to make mine right.

 

[panterafuy]

Re: Mercruiser Distributor?

Thanks for the advice. We did try all the junkyards around and couldn't find anything. I ended up taking out the plate and cleaning it up a bit. I filled in some of the gouges with weld and welded the broken parts together. It seems to be working okay for now. A temporary fix. I did find one on eBay and I think I will order it just in case. One would think that they wouldn't stop making such a common part for a motor that is still widely in use?