Trojan Boat Forum

I was coming back in from staying out all day, running about 2krpms and my Port engnie died all the sudden, no warning.

I have swapped the entire coil set up from the Starboard engine over and still no spark.

From looking at both engines and using my volt meter I have found that, with the ignition on, I have 8.6V+ on the front end of the white resistor and aprox. 5.6v+ on the back side to the coil. Which feeds the Positive side of the Coil giving me 5.6V on the Positive side of the coil and zero Volts on the negative side.

On the Port Engine (not running) I have 12v+ on the front of the white resistor and 12V+ on the back side and 12v+ on the positive side of the coil and 12v+ on the negative side of the coil.

Over all I have no spark coming from the coil when I turn over the motor.

So basically I am at a loss. I have tried all sorts of things to troubleshoot. I even replaced the electronic ignition module. NO SPARK.

Has anyone had a issue like this????
Can I buy a different kind of coil and wire it to the igntion 12v+ and make it work???


I need HELP bad.... The boat is for sale and I can't sell it this way. Gotta fix it...

Hate to be over simplistic - but what does your port battery's voltage look like? If its good - looks for a loose wire.

rossjo wrote:Hate to be over simplistic - but what does your port battery's voltage look like? If its good - looks for a loose wire.

Swapped battery too. No loose wires that I can see. I spent MANY hours over that motor yesterday. It's strange.

While cranking the engine does it fire? If it fires up while cranking and stops when you release the key or start switch it is the ballast resistor.

If it does not fire up at all then it could be a component in the distributor that has failed. Not sure if you have electronic or a points and condensor ignition.

TADTOOMUCH wrote:While cranking the engine does it fire? If it fires up while cranking and stops when you release the key or start switch it is the ballast resistor.

If it does not fire up at all then it could be a component in the distributor that has failed. Not sure if you have electronic or a points and condensor ignition.

It doesn't fire at all. I'm not getting anything from the coil. I turned it over while holding the coil wire close to a grounding point and it wouldn't spark. I'm just not getting power out of the coil although i know the coil is good because I swapped it from the other motor that runs perfectly.

I assume this is electronic, if so, pull the cap and rotor and be sure the pins which hold the reluctor onto the distributor shaft have not sheared. Also, check the air gap between the reluctor and the pick-up are correct, it will not make and break the magnetic field to produce a spark if there is a problem here. I also assume, that the distributor is in fact, turning...?

If a point set-up, be sure the points, condensor are in good shape and set correctly.

Finally, eliminate the "tachometer" lead from the negative side of the coil. I think it should be a gray wire. Shorted tachs can cause a no spark, low voltage problem as well.

Stripermann2 wrote:I assume this is electronic, if so, pull the cap and rotor and be sure the pins which hold the reluctor onto the distributor shaft have not sheared. Also, check the air gap between the reluctor and the pick-up are correct, it will not make and break the magnetic field to produce a spark if there is a problem here. I also assume, that the distributor is in fact, turning...?

If a point set-up, be sure the points, condensor are in good shape and set correctly.

Finally, eliminate the "tachometer" lead from the negative side of the coil. I think it should be a gray wire. Shorted tachs can cause a no spark, low voltage problem as well.

I have replaced the cap and rotor button after I replaced the electronic ignition.

The main trouble here is there is no Spark coming out of the coil.

I have tried removing the ground (-) side of the coil wires and just grounding it. That did make the voltages correct across the towers on the coil but still did not give me spark.

Not concerned with the cap or rotor, without either of these two, you will still have spark from a coil.

Now, the reluctor, if equipped, is below the rotor and is held onto the shaft by one, sometimes two vertical roll pins. When this turns with the shaft, it creates and breaks the magnetic field with the pick-up, or magnet which is mounted on the breaker plate. Any problem here, you will not have seconday ignition output from the coil. It's also possible that you have a breaker plate issue which has moved the pick-up too far or out of alignment from the reluctor wheel.

Disconnet only the tach wire from negative side of coil to eliminate any short to ground, from the tach circuit. The electronic box recieves signals from the timing and opening of the magnetic field of the reluctor and pick-up and will pulse a ground to the coil. This produces the spark. You cannot ground the coil fast enough to produce the spark you need by grounding the wires from the negative side of the coil.

Does this help you understand the system a little better?

Stripermann2 wrote:Not concerned with the cap or rotor, without either of these two, you will still have spark from a coil.

Now, the reluctor, if equipped, is below the rotor and is held onto the shaft by one, sometimes two vertical roll pins. When this turns with the shaft, it creates and breaks the magnetic field with the pick-up, or magnet which is mounted on the breaker plate. Any problem here, you will not have seconday ignition output from the coil. It's also possible that you have a breaker plate issue which has moved the pick-up too far or out of alignment from the reluctor wheel.

Disconnetc only the tach wire from negative side of coil to eliminate any short to ground. The electronic box recieves signals from the timing, opening of the magnetic filed of the reluctor and pick-up and will pulse a ground to the coil. This produces the spark. You cannot ground the coil fast enough to produce the spark you need by grounding the wires from the negative side of the coil.

Does this help you understand the system a little better?

The distributors are only 5 years old. They should be in good shape.

If you have no spark coming from a coil then you will need to get a wiring diagram and check your power and grounds.

jwrape wrote:

Stripermann2 wrote:Not concerned with the cap or rotor, without either of these two, you will still have spark from a coil.

Now, the reluctor, if equipped, is below the rotor and is held onto the shaft by one, sometimes two vertical roll pins. When this turns with the shaft, it creates and breaks the magnetic field with the pick-up, or magnet which is mounted on the breaker plate. Any problem here, you will not have seconday ignition output from the coil. It's also possible that you have a breaker plate issue which has moved the pick-up too far or out of alignment from the reluctor wheel.

Disconnetc only the tach wire from negative side of coil to eliminate any short to ground. The electronic box recieves signals from the timing, opening of the magnetic filed of the reluctor and pick-up and will pulse a ground to the coil. This produces the spark. You cannot ground the coil fast enough to produce the spark you need by grounding the wires from the negative side of the coil.

Does this help you understand the system a little better?

The distributors are only 5 years old. They should be in good shape.

I would believe that too if the motor was running... since it is not everything should be suspect.
I am with Jamie check the reluctor, if the gap is too wide it will not allow for a spark and if the teeth on the reluctor are not sharp you will also have problems.

From my Chrysler electronic ignition reference book...

I'll give it a look and adjust it closer.

I found this video that may help you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJYJ3KvPhhY

Swap the ballast resistors. You indicated that you had different readings on the two engines. Those things fail all the time and cause weird problems like low or no spark. They also fail intermittently and make it hard to diagnose problems. For the 12 buck cost it is worth having one extra on hand if that does not solve the problem.

They are designed to give the engine 12v to start with and then drop the running voltage to 6v after the engine is running. Don't know why Chrysler and some manufacturers don't let the system run at 12v all the time. Must have a reason I can't figure out.

I've spent many hours chasing an electrical problem and several times it is the resistor or a melted voltage regulator on those old Chryslers. Does your engine have a gooey sticky substance all over the tranny case that is just below the electronic ignition box? If so the regulator has melted the epoxy sealant out of the aluminum box and needs to be replaced too.

Jump/bypass the resister just to see if you get spark. If you get spark, replace the resister. Also make sure nothing is grounding out that shouldn't be or you'll never induce a voltage in the secondary winding.