Is this antifreeze ok??

bdillard wrote:  a couple of the guys there are serious electricians and offered to help me look into the electrical items y’all have addressed here.

It’s on my list of things to check.

I lucked out a bit. My old company is letting me store the boat in the loading area of their building for a few weeks to get me through the holidays and some of the upcoming cold weather so I’ve bought some time to get these things looked into!

Also, a couple of the guys there are serious electricians and offered to help me look into the electrical items y’all have addressed here. I’ll keep you all posted when I’m able to get back to checking some of the electrical
Items with a multimeter

8122pbrainard wrote: bdillard wrote:  I’m wondering though if something could be loose in my ignition though too given how it just cranked repeatedly on its own. Could that be a possibility? Or more than likely the solenoid/starter relay as has been suggested? It's time to move on this idea  bdillard wrote:  Sounding like I need to buy me a multimeter and check some of the readings  A basic VOM can be had for around $20. Great tool that's handy around the house and car too.

Thanks Pete!

KENO wrote: bdillard wrote: @KENO - thanks! Awesome info in those posts. @SNobsessed - I tried some sand paper between the contacts but that didn’t seem to solve the issue. The gap on the points seemed good based on my feeler gauge but I’m no expert again so I could be wrong. In regards to the trick charger, maybe I’m describing that poorly. It’s a car quest battery charger/maintainer. Battery is an Interstate Marine Cranking battery. Looks like 1000 cranking amps. Sounding like I need to buy me a multimeter and check some of the readings to try to locate where Im losing power maybe. Yesterday after cleaning off the contacts in the points I still wasn’t seeing any spark. Wondering if something down line is my issue. Or it’s bad points? Bad condenser? Once you get the engine in a condition where Mother Nature won't damage it, then you can relax for the holidays and do some searching/reading about ignition systems here on CCF. Earlier you asked about a coil and SNobsessed told you to check it's resistance, it should have a primary resistance of about 1.5 ohms and a secondary resistance of about 8000 or so ohms. For some reason, I get the feeling that Advance is your favorite parts place and you probably are a SpeedPerks member and then you do computer orders with a 25% off coupon to save some money  If you need a coil, a BWD E70 from Advance is a good choice, and also tucked away in the ignition circuit is a ballast resistor that could be bad and causing no spark. A good number for that would be a BWD RU-12 at Advance also. (it's about 1.3 ohms resistance) No fair buying a bunch of new parts without research and testing the old parts though. And now for one more 2 part question..............do you have a safety lanyard on the boat and is it plugged in?  I'd hate to have the "no spark" be due to a lanyard that's not plugged in or defective

KENO - haha no rea loyalty to advance auto or anything. Just the closest shop to me that I can find these kinds of parts. I’ve ordered a few parts over the last few years from Nautiqueparts.Com and have checked places like skidim and west marine (they west always seems crazy expensive). Advanced always just seemed easy when it came to looking for those engine parts and fluids for winterization.

I looked into NAPA though and there’s one near me that I’ll have to look into!

As far as a safety lanyard...mine doesn’t have one...not sure if it ever did, but it hasn’t since I bought it. It does have an open hole in the dash though that says “alarm” but I always assumed that was for things like engine temp, etc and maybe the previous owner pulled it for some reason?

I’m wondering though if something could be loose in my ignition though too given how it just cranked repeatedly on its own. Could that be a possibility? Or more than likely the solenoid/starter relay as has been suggested?

I’ll get the battery load tested. I don’t get to get out on the water with the fam as often as I’d like and from time to time the battery sits and I can think of a couple times at least where it was just fully dead (which I know is not good - can’t think of a way to keep it charged though unless I pull the battery each time we wrap up and bring it home with me).

Appreciate all this help though! I’m no mechanic by any means but I’m learning so much about these engines!

8122pbrainard wrote: SNobsessed wrote: The extra cranking was caused by bad solenoid.  They are cheap.  You can check coil with ohmmeter.  Not sure of exact ohms but you can look that up on the 'net.   Chris mentioned the Ohms of the relay coil. He's a little off as getting a Ohm reading of the coil will not check for welded contacts.

bdillard wrote: @KENO - thanks! Awesome info in those posts. @SNobsessed - I tried some sand paper between the contacts but that didn’t seem to solve the issue. The gap on the points seemed good based on my feeler gauge but I’m no expert again so I could be wrong. In regards to the trick charger, maybe I’m describing that poorly. It’s a car quest battery charger/maintainer. Battery is an Interstate Marine Cranking battery. Looks like 1000 cranking amps. Sounding like I need to buy me a multimeter and check some of the readings to try to locate where Im losing power maybe. Yesterday after cleaning off the contacts in the points I still wasn’t seeing any spark. Wondering if something down line is my issue. Or it’s bad points? Bad condenser?

@KENO - thanks! Awesome info in those posts.

@SNobsessed - I tried some sand paper between the contacts but that didn’t seem to solve the issue. The gap on the points seemed good based on my feeler gauge but I’m no expert again so I could be wrong. In regards to the trick charger, maybe I’m describing that poorly. It’s a car quest battery charger/maintainer. Battery is an Interstate Marine Cranking battery. Looks like 1000 cranking amps.

Sounding like I need to buy me a multimeter and check some of the readings to try to locate where Im losing power maybe.

Yesterday after cleaning off the contacts in the points I still wasn’t seeing any spark. Wondering if something down line is my issue. Or it’s bad points? Bad condenser?

If you decide you're changing ignition parts, here are some Sierra numbers for ignition parts for your 90 which should be the screw down cap Prestolite distributor. These numbers work for getting parts from NAPA with a NAPA label on them.

Also wondering if it’s be worth replacing my points, condenser, cap, and rotor. I’d imagine they’ve not been replaced in a long time, if ever.

If I were to replace the points and condenser, is it ok to grab those from an auto parts store (advance auto, autozone, etc) or try to track down from a marine dealer?

DVskier wrote: Lake Keowee, 45 minutes south of Greenville.  Lake Lure is really nice but overcrowded. My ski coach has a private lake behind Ingles in Lake Lure so I’m up there 2-3 times a week from April-October. My boat stays on a lift all year.

That’s awesome. We pass through close to that area a couple times a year on trips down to FL going south on 85. Lake Norman is nice but it’s tough to find smooth water here too with how crowded it can get on a weekend. Need to get out on weekdays!

DVskier wrote: I’m about 2 hours southwest of you and I just drain the engine, manifolds, trans cooler, j tube, water filter. That’s it, antifreeze is unnecessary in the South. Also Damp Rid is great for keeping your upholstery from getting mildewed. Sta Bil is your friend.

Are you out near the lake lure area by chance? Have a buddy that has a family home on lure. I already added some sta bil to the tank when I topped it off so I’ve got that in there! Maybe if all else fails I’ll go the route you suggested. Something about the reassurance of having AF in there helps me sleep at night for the $30 it cost haha.

I’m about 2 hours southwest of you and I just drain the engine, manifolds, trans cooler, j tube, water filter. That’s it, antifreeze is unnecessary in the South. Also Damp Rid is great for keeping your upholstery from getting mildewed. Sta Bil is your friend.

Good stuff - I'll see if I have a ratchet that would fit.  It is a recessed square, as mentioned that it might be. 

Brad,