older carburetated mercruiser 5.7 hard start

[brian3127]

With a volt meter on the + side of the coil crank the engine over. You should read 11-12 volts. If it is much lower then the “by pass” circuit from the outer connector on the starter solenoid is the problem.
To further prove out the problem run a jumper wire directly from the + battery to the + side of the coil. If the engine starts easier then the fault is the starter solenoid.

Ok I tested the positive on the coil while turning it over. I got 9v and no spark. So I ran a wire from the positive on the battery to the positive of the coil got 12 v while cranking and still no spark. I did it with both coils still the same. The original in still connected
Could it be the pickup I got from amazon. That is hooked up correctly too. Red wire to red wire. And 2 green wires from the boat side of the wiring to 1 green wire from the pickup.
There was a ground wire connected to the underside of the dizzy before I took of the old pickup off. I moved that to where the black wire from the pickup is grounded.
Hope this makes sense to someone
New spark tester bought today. I was using a spark gap tester before
I did see it spark once to twice. When I first checked the positive for 12 v while cranking. But nothing since
Is there a way to test the spark tester.
I tied a wire from the negative on the battery and touched the bulb to the positive and it didn’t light up

 

[brian3127]

I will try the spark tester on my tractor when I get home. And give the results

 

[brian3127]

Tested on my tractor
The spark tester works

 

[brian3127]

i remembered while i was using my multimeter to test for 12v while cranking. the only way i would get a reading is. with the red probe on the positive on the coil and the black probe on a bolt on the engine. not on the coil. shouldnt i get 12v probing the positive and negative of the coil.

 

[Bondo]

i remembered while i was using my multimeter to test for 12v while cranking. the only way i would get a reading is. with the red probe on the positive on the coil and the black probe on a bolt on the engine. not on the coil. shouldnt i get 12v probing the positive and negative of the coil.

Not necessarily, the coil fires when it's grounded,....