1991 Sylvan Ind. V188 Barritz that won't start

[Coop8059]

I have a 3.7L inline 4 cylinder Mercrusier that will not spark at the spark plugs. I am getting power from the coil. We replaced the regulator thinking that was the problem, but it did not fix it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: 1991 Sylvan Ind. V188 Barritz that won't start

Welcome to iboats......
Have you replaced the points?......​

 

[Coop8059]

Re: 1991 Sylvan Ind. V188 Barritz that won't start

no I haven't. Some people are telling me that the coil is not putting out enough power.

 

[Coop8059]

Re: 1991 Sylvan Ind. V188 Barritz that won't start

Yeah thanks this forum is great. I am not very familiar with boats so I will probably have alot of questions....

 

[Don S]

Re: 1991 Sylvan Ind. V188 Barritz that won't start

Before you go throwing a bunch of expensive parts at it, do a tuneup on the distributor first. New points, condenser, cap and rotor. Set the point gap and check the point dwell with a dwell meter. I would bet after that, it will start.
Points need to be replaced constantly, that is why you don't see them much any more.
Make sure with the key in the run position you have power to the coil. If you do, it will probably start. Then you will need to reset timing and change the plugs too.
That regulator you changed has nothing to do with making spark, only charging the battery, and 90% of the time with a points ignition, the points are the reason for no spark, not a bad coil.