No spark question (yes, another one)

[Bill_H]

Hello all,<br />My cousin gave me a 21ft 1982 Renken boat with an OMC stern drive. It has the 3.8L V6.<br /><br />I get no spark at the plugs. I measure 10V or so on the positive side of the coil. It has an Ignitor electronic device in place of the points/condensor.<br /><br />How do I go about trouble shooting this problem? I was going to put in a set of points so I could at least measure voltage since I'm not sure how to test the Ignitor module.<br /><br />I have the service manual and the wiring seems OK from the ignition back. <br /><br />Any suggestions?<br />Thanks<br />Bill

 

[akriverrat]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

probably should be full battery voltage to + side of coil. is there any voltage to coil while you are cranking engine over?

 

[Boatist]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

Bill<br />I belive 10 volts to the plus side of coil is about right, most have a resistor or resistor wire. If you have a dwell meter hook it to the minus side of the coil and see if get a reading around 30 degrees. If you have good dwell reading then check high tension wire from coil to distributer and make sure it is good. If dwell bad then check voltage to electronic points. I know nothing about these units as have always kept regular points and condensor that I know I can fix on land or at sea in 10 minutes.

 

[Bill_H]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

Thanks for the info. If it ever stops raining I will try your ideas. <br /><br />I get 10V when the engine cranks at the positive side of the coil.<br /><br />I don't have a dwell meter. The wiring diagram shows a 2 ohm wire going to the postive side of the coil.<br /><br />Is there any way to check the high tension wire coming out of the coil? I stuck a plug in it, but it didn't spark either. Is this a valid test?<br /><br />Thanks again,<br />-Bill

 

[akriverrat]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

most electronic conversions do away with resistor so you get full voltage. you might want to find out what brand it is and find out about resistor.

 

[beckerdg]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

My guess is if it is the original Ignitor device it could be fried. They would self destruct if you left the ignition on for more than a few minutes without the engine running. Replace with an Ignitor II, they don't do that. I had one and it did that when I was doing a compression test. I did not read the fine print in the instructions of the module. <br /><br />The Ignitor manufacturer had a FAQ section for trouble shooting.<br /> http://www.pertronix.com/

 

[Bill_H]

Re: No spark question (yes, another one)

Thanks for the info. The module itself only has "Ingitor" and "08t-V4" on it.<br /><br />I think I will swap in some points to eliminate it as a source of problems.