ignition coil/electrical problem

78 Ski nautique BTW

PBrainard, I checked the voltage to the coil and it was either nothing or 12+volts. Its strange though because yesterday I was tinkering around with it and it had about 5 volts... then something happened out of nowhere and it was back to 12v. Needless to say that was frustrating. I think there is an electrical problem somewhere else thats causing this. On top of that I realized that the rotor isnt getting any power at all. I have a mechanic coming by tomorrow. Ill let you know what he says if anyone is interested.

79nautique wrote: besides there isn't a way to test if power is going to the rotor so explain how you came to this conclusion.

the rotor is internal so how do you check if it is functioning correctly, you can't,

you can test for voltage going to the cap and you don't need that fancy tester Pete posted, all you have to do is pull the coil wire at the cap and look for spark.

But there is no way to test that voltage is actaully being transfer through the rotor and arcing to the individual spark plug towers. You can test continuity in the cap for the coil tower terminal to rotor button, you can test continuity of the rotor segment to rotor tang, but you cannot test that the rotor tang is actually making contact with the cap button and that the voltage is being transfered from the coil tower to the individual spark towers.    

I've used the machine on the right before, again though to test the rotor directly you can't, you can see the pattern on the oscillascope and observe the wave pattern on the screen then if you know what you looking at you can determind if its the plug, wire or in the cap.

Now that is a distributor machine on the left correct? are those your toys?


Point being all that was tested was that there wasn't any spark from the coil, weather or not it's the rotors fault is yet to be seen not, but it's rare a rotor doesn't allow the voltage to pass through it, unless the carbon ball in the cap is gone or someone has bent the tang on the rotor.

need an ALLEN Smart Scope or a Sun four gas exhaust machine?

I believe you have your terminology wrong the rotor is powered through the center tower of the cap and a wire connects the cap and coil.

So did you just replace the points? why do you feel the coil is bad?

check the voltage at the coil's postive terminal and ground testers other lead to the engine block should be around 9 volts with key on in the run position if that is good then the resistor is good too. Next remove the coil wire from the cap and verify you have spark.

the ballast resistor is the ceramic piece mounted on the rear of the engine.

your just guessing at *************** get the multimeter and test the crap.

DID YOU JUST REPLACE PARTS OR DID IT JUST NOT FIRE UP AFTER STORAGE?


FYI YOU SHOULDN'T BE GETTING 12 VOLTS at the coil on a point ignition system.

and let me guess you checked the coil by attaching the leads to both terminals on the coil which is the wrong way to check the coil BTW

some of these guys wonder why they have issue with their boat piss poor diagnosis

Piss poor diagnosis? Youre right. I have no idea whats going on which is why Im trying to ask someone who does. But come on man, give me a break. Its not like I have my head buried in a engine every hour of the day. Sheesh.

Anyways, I found the problem. Nothing to do with any of this. I found a loose wire and plugged it to the carb, turned the key and it fired right up.     Im off to the lake.   Thanks for the help

:)

You got a problem with the Boat Dr ? , Karen has no dog in this hunt bucko.
Now ya got a bitch , throw it out............

boat dr wrote: You got a problem with the Boat Dr ? , Karen has no dog in this hunt bucko. Now ya got a bitch , throw it out............

I think you are rude to people on this site, therefore I will never buy anything from you.

Tim

I had some electrical problems a couple of years ago. One of the reasons why I love having my now 42 year old boat is to learn. I've always wanted to be more mechanically inclined and now I have the chance. Every time I've had an issue that is beyond me, which doesn't take much, I've described it as best I can and smart people have come to my rescue.
Anyway, my intermittent electrical problem ended up being a bad ignition wire, which was finally diagnosed at GL a couple of years ago, with the help of Billy mostly, but with Pete, Steve, and several others standing around my boat.
I've received good advice from 79 (Chris) more than once, and almost no good mechanical advice from Jbear, but he's very encouraging. Billy, Eric, and others have been kind enough to talk me through a few problems on the phone, I feel like they have gone way out of their way.
I respect all these guys and they've been more than patient with me, and I have learned a lot!   
Here's the result for me, great friends made . . . and last Saturday we were out on the water with our mostly grown sons and their friends, skiing, boating, swimming and adding memories to a 42 year old boat.
Chuck

behindpropeller wrote: I think you are rude to people on this site, therefore I will never buy anything from you. Tim

Tim,
I feel you're mistaken and misinterpret Billy. Rude? No! Blunt? Absolutely!! He also has a sense of humor that some don't understand. It may be his location?? We need to get him to use some of those funny faces on the left! Of course that may be impossible just like getting him to do quoting properly!