no fire at coil - what's wrong

[tlscott]

Hi

I started my catalina 30 up fione this spring and when launch day came it fired right up. It was running fine for 2-3 minutes then when I backed out to move the boat to my slip it died. I could not get it going and got towed back to the dock. Later after trying to get it going again it started but quit shortly after. I thought I had a fuel starvation or clogged line and was just ready to pull the carburator when I thought I should check for fire at the plugs. When I turned the engine over no sparks at the plugs when I held them on the block. Then I thought I should check the fire coming out of the coil. Nothing there either. Then I checked the voltager between the leads on the coil. nothing there either. I just replaced the ignition with a cheap canadian tire brand and still no voltage at the coil when I check the leads. The starter turns over find and I'm getting a pool of fuel in the carburator.

Is there a fuse between the ignition and coil that may have failed? What do I check next?

thanks
Terry

Happy Canada Day

[twoowls]

Coil Fire

Run a hot wire from the ignition switch to to + side of the coil. If that is no good then replace the coil.

[Don Moyer]

Also, if you find yourself cranking your Catalina 30 longer than a few seconds without starting, be sure to close the raw water through-hull valve to prevent engine cooling water from flooding back into your engine. See the attachment for more details on Catalina 30 exhaust and electrical issues.

Don

[sastanley]

Hi Don, Thanks for the post about location of joining plugs in the circuit on a C-30.

I would like to add that I was 'looking' for this plug this winter after reading another post about it. I was able to visually inspect the mid-way plug (near the galley) by removing the drawer assembly on the aft side of the galley & clean it up without the awkward reach under the stuffing box access panel in the floor. (apparently not ALL Catalina 30's had this drawer assembly, but mine does) Pull the drawers and only 4 sheet metal screws hold the frame to fiberglass. This 'hole' also eventually gave me good access to the connections for a replacement fuel tank I had to install this spring as well, much better than reaching around thru the quarter berth.

Cheers!

[tlscott]

Thanks all for the comments. After tracing the problem some more I found the ignition wire was failing in the harness connector at the front of the engine. I cut the wire from the ignition and run a wire to the positive side of the coil. Worked great after that.

Then I got into another problem after the boat ran for 30 seconds. The boat would start. MAde sure the fuel pump was pumping lots of fuel so I had to take the carb off and clean it out. It was terribly filthy inside. The boat would start then stall. We took the carb off about 7 times cleaning out junk. Finally put ana inline fuel filter and still had the same issues. I then decided to pump out a cup or two of fuel to see if the dirt was gone and voila I found about 50% fuel/water mix. The fill cap must of been leaking all winter in combination with the condensation. I'm going to pump out the fuel today and see what we get.

thanks for the help.