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katorchrunner 
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Joined: August-31-2009 Status: Offline Points: 11 |
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 Topic: Hard to StartPosted: August-02-2011 at 12:26am |
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I have a 1978 Ski Nautique with a 351. I recently had an electronic ingition installed. I went to the lake this weekend and the boat started up fine and ran fine. I am having a problem in that when I run the boat and cut the motor off it does not want to start back up. If I wait about 20 minutes and let it cool down it will crank. I have had this problem for a while. It has been extremely hot outside in Alabama(95-98 degrees) Any ideas what might be causing the problem? Some have said it could be the coil or the starter but it starts fine when it is cold.
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Ken
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goosef350
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Joined: July-19-2011 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 21 |
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Posted: August-02-2011 at 6:18am |
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Was this a problem before you installed the new ignition? What exactly did you change and what brands? I had a similar problem on my boat. It would run just fine, I'd leave the dock on a hot day, pull a wakeboarder for a while, and then when I turned the boat off, it would crank and crank but not start. When I grabbed the coil to check the wiring it was so hot I burned my hand (it overheated and stopped producing spark). I have since replaced the coil with an MSD High Vibration Blaster coil and that fixed the problem.
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: August-02-2011 at 9:33am |
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Ken,
Besides the potential coil problem, you could also be flooding the engine from a carb that's in need of a rebuild. When hot, try opening the throttle almost all the way and crank the engine. This allows more air and overcomes the flooding. BTW, Why the EI conversion? |
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katorchrunner
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Posted: August-02-2011 at 11:03am |
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Thanks for the advise. I am going to the lake Thursday and I will check both of those and let you know what happens.
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Ken
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: August-02-2011 at 11:08am |
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Ken,
Pull the flame arrestor and shut down the engine. Take a look down the carb to see if you has any gas dripping. |
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MichaelQ
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Joined: May-11-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 34 |
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Posted: August-06-2011 at 12:07am |
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Had the same problem two weeks ago.
'79 Nautique, 351w, MSD Ready to Run Distributor, MSD Coil. We had compression, gas, and spark - however the spark was weak due to voltage dropping in the system. Once we traced the problem with a meter we were able to bypass a redundant component. Voltage restored - stronger spark - no more hard starting. Ran perfect all vacation with lots of starts. As we were trouble shooting the issue someone with an older malibu was pretty convinced that we were having vapor lock. His suggestion was to shield the fuel lines with aluminum foil. We didn't need to go this route. |
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- Michael Quigley
'79 Nautique |
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: August-06-2011 at 9:12am |
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It doesn't surprise me that a Malibu owner thinks his marine engine is vapor locking!!!
 What a DA!!
I have a feeling you still had the ballast resistor hooked up??? |
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MichaelQ
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Posted: August-06-2011 at 2:28pm |
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Pete,
The external porcelain ballast resistor (near the coil) was removed several years ago when we put the MSD Distributor and MSD Coil in. I’ve had hard to start issues in the past but it has been due to other factors; such as a faulty neutral safety switch and bad gas. Since all my basic stuff was covered (fuel, fire, compression) and I haven't made any changes to the boat for several years I needed a mechanics help with this one. I am not positive what the component was named but I attached a picture for identification purposes. The mechanic referred to it as a voltage resistor and after speaking with the MSD tech line believed it was redundant. The yellow pencil points to the component mounted on the inside of the voltage regulator bracket. -mq 
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- Michael Quigley
'79 Nautique |
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: August-06-2011 at 5:25pm |
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Michael,
Yes, it looks like it is redundant and since nothing is hooked up to it. don't worry about it. I have never seen a ballast resistor like that. It almost looks like it was used in combination with the old style voltage regulator you have. Have you had a chance to take a look down the carb yet? Yes, I as well as Tom do not feel you have a vapor lock condition. (see other rather funny thread on vapor lock) I've been labeled a "prick"!!! 
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MichaelQ
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Posted: August-06-2011 at 9:31pm |
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Hi Pete,
I'm pretty sure my problem was resolved by by-passing that resistor. Thanks for the confirmation on the redundancy. The engine starts with the throttle straight up every time now. Carb (Holley Marine 4160 - 5 years old) looks very clean and seems to be functioning well. That was a funny thread on the vapor lock. Thanks for being such a great resource to the CC community. |
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- Michael Quigley
'79 Nautique |
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: August-07-2011 at 7:28pm |
Michael, Thank you for you vote of confidence in me!! It's appreciated big time - trust me!!! 
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MichaelQ wrote: