She runs great then dies

Did you put in an electronic conversion kit to replace the points??

Sounds like a hot coil not the distributor to me.

Somewhat close. You are absolutely right i am not a mechanic, The advice was give to me by a friends boat mechanic who i visited and he had heard about our boat problems. but here is the story and where the boat is to date

We got the boat two years ago (Jan 09) for free. The previous owner got the boat to the point where it would not run, gas spitting out of his new carb. Myself and a partner then started working on getting the boat running. With lots of help from reading the forum we started to work through removing all of the Autozone parts (which included the starter motor) from the boat, and that summer we got the boat running quite well although on occassion the boat would just stop, the engine would just cut out, and as we are not mechanics we are then stuck. We would crank it over until it started again, sometime immediately other times it would take a few minutes., Last year, while we were hoping to get more use out of the boat two things happened. My partner forgot to put in the plug, and almost (but not quite) sunk us and our raw water impellar gave out so we got very hot. So last year we all gave up on the boat somewhat, but we are trying again

We fixed the impellar and again we can have it run great at home and it never cuts out, the boat starts first time, but when we get in the water after about 45 minutes the boat will just cut out, we can be travelling at speed or just idling and it happens. I have a number of things i need to look at and although i am not a mechanic i think any one of these could be my problem.

1. One of the clips for my distributor cap have been stripped so i cannot tighten the clip on one side to hold on the cap. I cannot get enough purchase so the clip is "somewhat loose" on one side. Can i buy new clips, or do i just put in a bigger screw (self tapper) to get that clip tight ? or do i need a whole new distributor ?
2. My exhaust manifold has a 90 degree fitting where the seawater circulation system enters the manifold. One of these on one side of the boat is plastic (and breaking/falling apart)the other is brass and i think has already been replaced. I need to replace the broken fitting but not sure of it size and thread and can i go with a brass fitting ?
3. The ignition switch is not completely tight in the dash board. I don't know if it was replaced previously but occassionally it will turn a little
4. Fuel Pump. The fuel pump looks like a marine fuel pump with the double diaphragm but does not have a site tube, so i am a little suspicous if this is a true marine fuel pump. I was told that there were some old fuel pumps that could look like a marine pump but may not be. I feel as though this should be replaced, but am uncertain.
5. Do i need to change the water fuel seperator regulary

I feel like this is a confessional. These are issues i have at the moment, and i know (or think) that any of the above could be causing my problem when we cut out I want to get this boat to run consistently well, as taking it out and then having to re-start the engine and then get back to the dock has become somewhat of a chore. We can run all day long on the driveway, starts great and keeps running, idles lovely and does not get to hot.

Now i have my list written out the plan is to complete all 4 issues before we go out in the water again for our next wet test.

So far our venture has cost us about 2K with new marine parts, so we are still happy to keep trying but this is our last year getting it going consistently. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am sure you will tell me to complete all 4 or maybe 5 and then wet test again. As for the ignition question, i have no idea if it is an electronic ignition, how would i know ??? What do i need to look for. I will be in the boat tomorrow and can take pictures if that will help

Thanks

Nick

As has been suggested, it certainly sounds like an ignition problem that is likely narrowed to the coil. Check the coil next time the boat stops. I'm willing to bet that it will be quite hot. Its possible that the PO swapped out the coil with the wrong replacement, took out the ballast resistor or turned the coil over sideways rather than leaving it sitting upright. I'd guess that one (maybe all of the above) is where you'll find your problem.

Seams like the coil is getting hot and breaking down. Run it with out the hood til it stops, feel the coil to see if its too hot to hold. If its OK remove the spark arrester, have someone pump the throttle while you look down the carb for a good squrit of fuel. NO tools required so far. If OK check the voltage at the + side of the coil. - My dollar is on the hot coil. But it maybe the #2 rod bearing.(sorry for bein' a ****)    

As suggested above, could be several things. I had the exact same situation a few years ago, and per suggestions here, swapped out the coil on the water as soon as it happened. Maybe that is your problem, but it wasnt mine. Just as the mechanic you listened to suggested, engine heat misaligned an old/warn cap. Cools off, ran fine. A new cap and I was good to go. So even tho it could be any one of several things, mine happened to be what your mechanic suggested. I took my boat over to a mechanic friend and he inspected the cap and saw evidence of all kinds of arcing. Just so happens I had already ordered a new cap and it came in the mail that morning. We put it on and no problems since. Worth a try.

Guys

Thank you very much, at least we now have an idea of what we should look for first. yes, i will try to tighten the clip first and maybe get a new distributor cap. I will also look at the coil when i get in the boat today so i can identify what i have, i am not sure how to identify what coil i have or if i have an electronic ignition, but i have some help from my mechanic team (auto mechanics) who can help me identify the parts that we have.

SO, buy no new parts, i do have a volt meter so will give it a test when we cut out as well as looking at fuel flow with the spark arrestor off.

In the boat today, a lot of work to do and then possibly in the water this week.
Nick

The boat just seems to cut out, no real sputtering, we can be racing along at 25 to 30MPH and then dead and we just come to a rest.
Thanks again for the advice. We know we have a gem of a boat, just a little frustrating as we are not boat mechanics to go out and have it cut out and not know even where to look. Next time it cuts out we ahve some where to look.
Thanks again

I am not sure i have a CC dealer near me, i can look. I have the service and parts manual for PCM and typically once i have the original part number i can call west marine and they can convert it to what Sierra parts i need or they have Mallory as well i think.

I bet the distributor on there now is proabably non-marine as the previous owner changed everything else to autoparts

dochockey wrote: It would help us if you could post some photos. Do you have a CC dealer near you ? the cap needs to be marine.

Kirk,
You go to a dealer for parts? You must have plenty of spare cash!!

I have points according to the picture above. I also have pictures for the fuel pump which may not be marine, the distributor is a prestolite and i have picture of the coil.

If it has a good chance of being the coil i am happy to exchange this before i go out again, along with the distributor cap and convert it to an electronic start if any of these could be a problem.

Money is not the issue, so i am happy to change thses parts out as long as we are not running into 4 or 5 hundred dollars.

I would start with the coil and for GP the distributor cap

here are pics of the fuel pump distributor cap and coil.

I cant shrink them, i will retake them tomorrow.

Manison wrote: I have points according to the picture above. I also have pictures for the fuel pump which may not be marine, the distributor is a prestolite and i have picture of the coil. If it has a good chance of being the coil i am happy to exchange this before i go out again, along with the distributor cap and convert it to an electronic start if any of these could be a problem. Money is not the issue, so i am happy to change these parts out as long as we are not running into 4 or 5 hundred dollars. I would start with the coil and for GP the distributor cap here are pics of the fuel pump distributor cap and coil.

Before you start just changing things out let's try to track down why it's happening. You said it was running good before, what changed?
First get your clip issue on the cap taken care of either a bigger screw or a small nut and bolt.
Then also check your contact's in the cap and on your rotor. I have a feeling that they are going to be pitted from the loose cap causing arcing.
After that we can start digging deeper.

84SN2001 wrote: .....The only thing you will have to do is weld the counter weights togethor because their is no vacume advance on the marine carb!!! I think I said that right

It is correct that there will be no vacuum advance on the marine distributor (if it actually a marine unit there won't be a vacuum advance mechanism on the distributor) but the mechanical advance is going to be needed. The weights must be free to move in order to get the timing to advance as rpm increases. From the sounds of the problem, I don't think he needs a new distributor but rather needs to get what looks to be a problem with an overheating coil sorted out.

Bri892001 wrote: This tool was mentioned recently in cycleworld. They're pretty cool. They can help diagnose anything with spark ignition. You don't need any tools to put it on, and it can be left in place with the engine running. I've seen them used on the automotive side as well, I don't see why you couldn't use one with a boat. Put it on and start your boat, and watch the light go on. When your boat goes into it's dead mode, see if it's still lighting up when you crank the engine over. No light, then no spark. Then all you have to do is figure out why you're not getting spark, coil etc.:

If that tool is more than a few dollars then I wouldnt bother with it. A timing light can do the same thing, but has other uses (like being able to set your timing, ha).

My 87 had the same problem. I change a couple of parts, at the end it was the coil. The coil when it warms up it will open. I could idle for evere. A member suggested the MSD Blaster model 8222. This coil will work in any position. I bought the MSD resistor to be safe. I have that and a Mallory optical/electrical conversion. It has been 3 years and everything is fine. I read somewhere that when the engine is warm you can tap the coil and if it goes off then you find the problem. Your problem is almost exaclty to mine. I checked fuel, pump, ignition, and at the end it was the coil.