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Ahoy,
Had a shutdown while underway last weekend. Sailed back to the slip without incident... Anyway, here's what I know.
I had been running the engine for an hour before a two-hour sail. I restarted and the engine ran for 10 seconds before abruptly shutting down. It shut down as though it had been turned off.
Back at the slip... She turns over but still won't start.
Ether in the carb intake did nothing. She didn't even think about starting.
With a circuit tester, I established that spark was getting to the coil with the engine briefly turned to RUN.
Next, I pulled the #1 spark plug wire, attached a plug and held it to the head and cranked the engine. No spark, nothing.
Next, I checked the voltage to the coil with a multimeter, one element to the positive coil, the other to the head while engine on RUN. The voltage fluctuated wildly between 13. 3 - 14.2 volts.
Next, I checked the points: .017" which is a little tight.
While the distributor cap was off, I noticed a tear in the insulation on the black wire where it exits the distributor. Patched with tape, tried to start... nothing.
I checked for spark with a plug in the #1 wire as before, but no spark.
PAY ATTENTION HERE, AS I WANT TO CONFIRM I CARRIED OUT THE TEXT CORRECTLY.
Next, I checked the coil spark. I pulled the big coil wire from the top of distributor. Then I took a foot-long section of wire and attached it to the neg coil post with the other wires removed from the neg post. Then, with the engine on RUN, I intermittently held the neg wire to the head with one hand while holding the thick coil wire a quarter-inch from the head. There's supposed to be a "snappy blue spark." What I saw was a faint spark, maybe once or twice while intermittently touching the head with the neg lead. All I got was what looked to me like a weak-ish spark once or twice, and then no spark at all.
The coil is from MMI and is 6 months old. It replaced one that failed in October. I'm always conscious about immediately turning the key to OFF whenever the engine may hick-up and not immediately start (it has always started on the second go around).
So my thoughts: Electricity is getting to the coil, but not exiting with authority. If the coil has failed, it would be the second coil failure in two months. If it is indeed a coil failure, it would stand to reason that something is causing them to fail.
First, I need to know if I carried out the proper tests and carried them out correctly. Also, I'd like to know what could be causing the coil failure, if it has indeed failed. Could a failed condenser cause a coil to fail? Could the breach in the neg wire insulation from the distributor cause it?
Thanks for you help! Much appreciated!
Had a shutdown while underway last weekend. Sailed back to the slip without incident... Anyway, here's what I know.
I had been running the engine for an hour before a two-hour sail. I restarted and the engine ran for 10 seconds before abruptly shutting down. It shut down as though it had been turned off.
Back at the slip... She turns over but still won't start.
Ether in the carb intake did nothing. She didn't even think about starting.
With a circuit tester, I established that spark was getting to the coil with the engine briefly turned to RUN.
Next, I pulled the #1 spark plug wire, attached a plug and held it to the head and cranked the engine. No spark, nothing.
Next, I checked the voltage to the coil with a multimeter, one element to the positive coil, the other to the head while engine on RUN. The voltage fluctuated wildly between 13. 3 - 14.2 volts.
Next, I checked the points: .017" which is a little tight.
While the distributor cap was off, I noticed a tear in the insulation on the black wire where it exits the distributor. Patched with tape, tried to start... nothing.
I checked for spark with a plug in the #1 wire as before, but no spark.
PAY ATTENTION HERE, AS I WANT TO CONFIRM I CARRIED OUT THE TEXT CORRECTLY.
Next, I checked the coil spark. I pulled the big coil wire from the top of distributor. Then I took a foot-long section of wire and attached it to the neg coil post with the other wires removed from the neg post. Then, with the engine on RUN, I intermittently held the neg wire to the head with one hand while holding the thick coil wire a quarter-inch from the head. There's supposed to be a "snappy blue spark." What I saw was a faint spark, maybe once or twice while intermittently touching the head with the neg lead. All I got was what looked to me like a weak-ish spark once or twice, and then no spark at all.
The coil is from MMI and is 6 months old. It replaced one that failed in October. I'm always conscious about immediately turning the key to OFF whenever the engine may hick-up and not immediately start (it has always started on the second go around).
So my thoughts: Electricity is getting to the coil, but not exiting with authority. If the coil has failed, it would be the second coil failure in two months. If it is indeed a coil failure, it would stand to reason that something is causing them to fail.
First, I need to know if I carried out the proper tests and carried them out correctly. Also, I'd like to know what could be causing the coil failure, if it has indeed failed. Could a failed condenser cause a coil to fail? Could the breach in the neg wire insulation from the distributor cause it?
Thanks for you help! Much appreciated!
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