want to run my engine out of the boat.

Scott Danforth

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what is the purpose of the filter that runs from the coil to the distibutor.
You mean the condenser on the points?

It is to prevent the points from burning up. In the stickies are a tutorial on points ignition. You will want to read them
 

76SeaRay

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Do you have a picture of it and a diagram of how it is wired into the engine? The condenser or "filter" would normally be inside a points distributor. Sometimes they are mounted to the side of the coil and attached to the coil post. Condensers only have one wire and use the case for ground. It may be that someone was having trouble with radio noise and added some kind of filter which could include an inductor in addition to a capacitor (or condenser in the engine world).
 

brian3127

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Do you have a picture of it and a diagram of how it is wired into the engine? The condenser or "filter" would normally be inside a points distributor. Sometimes they are mounted to the side of the coil and attached to the coil post. Condensers only have one wire and use the case for ground. It may be that someone was having trouble with radio noise and added some kind of filter which could include an inductor in addition to a capacitor (or condenser in the engine world).
in the box with the letter A. there is a wire from the distibutor to the coil.
I will take a picture of my coil with what i think looks like this filter when i get home from work.
 

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achris

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Do you have a picture of it and a diagram of how it is wired into the engine? The condenser or "filter" would normally be inside a points distributor. Sometimes they are mounted to the side of the coil and attached to the coil post. Condensers only have one wire and use the case for ground. It may be that someone was having trouble with radio noise and added some kind of filter which could include an inductor in addition to a capacitor (or condenser in the engine world).
No, it's a factory thing. I suspect it's a ferrite core that the wires that run between the distributor sensor and the coil pass through, and thus 'filters' the pulses, and (hopefully) stops 'un-commanded' firing...

Chris..
 

brian3127

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No, it's a factory thing. I suspect it's a ferrite core that the wires that run between the distributor sensor and the coil pass through, and thus 'filters' the pulses, and (hopefully) stops 'un-commanded' firing...

Chris..
I Have the mercruiser books 1and 2 and the wiring diagrams in those books say breaker circuit 90 and 55.
My wire bracket has a 50 amp breaker on it. Do I need to find a 55 amp breaker. When rewriring it.
 

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brian3127

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Do you have a picture of it and a diagram of how it is wired into the engine? The condenser or "filter" would normally be inside a points distributor. Sometimes they are mounted to the side of the coil and attached to the coil post. Condensers only have one wire and use the case for ground. It may be that someone was having trouble with radio noise and added some kind of filter which could include an inductor in addition to a capacitor (or condenser in the engine world).
There is one on a black wire which plugs into the distributor and one on a grey wire that has a ring terminal that goes to the front of the boat
 

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achris

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I Have the mercruiser books 1and 2 and the wiring diagrams in those books say breaker circuit 90 and 55.
My wire bracket has a 50 amp breaker on it. Do I need to find a 55 amp breaker. When rewriring it.
Nah, 50A is plenty good enough... By the way, if you're into the whole re-wiring game, here's a generic drawing that may help sort a few things out....

My philosophy is to keep all 'engine' wiring together and all 'non-engine' wiring together, and separate from the engine... That way if one system goes down, it doesn't take the other with it. You don't lose your radios with an engine fault for example...

Generic wiring.jpg

Chris.........
 

brian3127

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Nah, 50A is plenty good enough... By the way, if you're into the whole re-wiring game, here's a generic drawing that may help sort a few things out....

My philosophy is to keep all 'engine' wiring together and all 'non-engine' wiring together, and separate from the engine... That way if one system goes down, it doesn't take the other with it. You don't lose your radios with an engine fault for example...

View attachment 359858

Chris.........
what are these circled in red. the black wire plugs into the distrib. and the grey wire goes up to the dash for the tack.
 

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achris

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what are these circled in red. the black wire plugs into the distrib. and the grey wire goes up to the dash for the tack.
Can you get a better photo, and give me some context? Thanks.
 

brian3127

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what are these circled in red. the black wire plugs into the distrib. and the grey wire goes up to the dash for the tack.
yeah sorry about the bad picture.
these wires are coming off the coil the black wire plugs into the right side of the distr.
the grey wire go up the the tach at the dash.

The red circles on the picture is to show that there is a filter or something tied into the wire. but in your diagram you gave me it only show 1 filter
Box A
i will get a better picture after work.
 

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brian3127

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yeah sorry about the bad picture.
these wires are coming off the coil the black wire plugs into the right side of the distr.
the grey wire go up the the tach at the dash.

The red circles on the picture is to show that there is a filter or something tied into the wire. but in your diagram you gave me it only show 1 filter
Box A
i will get a better picture after work.
Grey wire is connected to the coil and goes up to the front of the boat and it looks like a filter or something
The black wire connects to the dust. And then was grounded to the engine wire breaker bracket. And also has a filter looking thing.
 

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dubs283

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Still not great pics but they look like heat shrink butt connectors to me, not filters. Guessing the grey lead goes to the tachometer?

Based on the wire diagram posted the wire harness with the filter should be a brown wire and a pink wire iirc

I think there's some confusion as to which ignition system you have. Is it conventional (points) or electronic (like the wire diagram you posted)?
 

Scott Danforth

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the ignition looks like it was updated to a delco voyager.

agree that they look like heat shrink
 

brian3127

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Still not great pics but they look like heat shrink butt connectors to me, not filters. Guessing the grey lead goes to the tachometer?

Based on the wire diagram posted the wire harness with the filter should be a brown wire and a pink wire iirc

I think there's some confusion as to which ignition system you have. Is it conventional (points) or electronic (like the wire diagram you posted)?
electronic ignition.
 

brian3127

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the ignition looks like it was updated to a delco voyager.

agree that they look like heat shrink
so you think these were put on just to extend the wires. i will cut the heat shrink off today maybe tomorrow and look at it. and post what i find.
 

Scott Danforth

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so you think these were put on just to extend the wires. i will cut the heat shrink off today maybe tomorrow and look at it. and post what i find.
no need to cut the heat shrink. just post a better picture. your pictures look like you use the same camera they filmed bigfoot with. blurry as hell.

from what I can tell in the blurry pics, its heat shrink. and it wasnt to extend the wires. your ignition was replaced. you had points initially, you now have a delco voyager.
 

brian3127

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no need to cut the heat shrink. just post a better picture. your pictures look like you use the same camera they filmed bigfoot with. blurry as hell.

from what I can tell in the blurry pics, its heat shrink. and it wasnt to extend the wires. your ignition was replaced. you had points initially, you now have a delco voyager.
Iphone 10. if i try to get the coil and the wires in the pic it to far away to see anything. why would they put heat shrink on a wire for no reason.
 

Scott06

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electronic ignition.
These look like the splices that would go in when someone installs a delco voyager EST (electronic ignition) on an older points or to replace a Merc DDIS distributor less set up that is obsolete. Doesn't necessarily make it bad or wrong as long as it is done right
 
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