1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

[Tommywalton]

Well i created a bomb with a great HEI distributor so i put the old prestolite back in. Well guess what it was retrofitted with a pertronix module. Yep est wasnt working.

I did the diode fix to the letter and cranked it up.. Est worked fine. Well better in reverse but so what. The p.o.s ignition ran from idle to maybe 1500 rpm fine. Sputtered after that speed. Here is where my frustration almost won and a can of gas and match almost came into play.

After about two min of idling and a little snorting the motor i shifted into reverse while on the muffs. Engine died. Ignition died! It wont crank and im sure its ignition. This is what i know. Coil is getting 9.5-10 volt while cranking. Pertronix is getting 12v still wont fire. Altenator is very very hot after 2 min run time. Whats wrong with this bs ignition? Who knows were i need to go to learn how to check EVERY part of it. Im so frustrated.

Ive considered buying a WHOLE new disributor kit. If i do my luck the freaking switches wont match up or comunicate with each other or some crap. Im tired of spending money on stuff i can use so thats why im asking yall. What do i need to make an omc cobra run great and shift into gear while doing it. Why is this so complicated?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Was it working with this distributor before you put on the other one?

Have you set the timing correctly?

Do you have the firing order correct? (Very easy to get wrong)

What is the condition of the cap and rotor?

Disconnect the wire going to the ESA from the coil and your diode fix until you get it idling correctly. Then reattach the wiring and see if anything changed.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Was it working with this distributor before you put on the other one?

Have you set the timing correctly?

Do you have the firing order correct? (Very easy to get wrong)

What is the condition of the cap and rotor?

Disconnect the wire going to the ESA from the coil and your diode fix until you get it idling correctly. Then reattach the wiring and see if anything changed.

Ayuh,.... Is the shift cable Draggin',..??

 

[Tommywalton]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Timing is correct, wires and all are good it ran for 2 minutes or so fine. I shifted it into reverse to check esa and it quit while doing it. I think something died. It was running 2 years ago according to owner. I bought it without long block. I put it in from another boat. It has shifted poorly since i hooked it all up for the most part. Until last night when esa was working for 2 min.

It has a pertronix conversion in it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

So you set the timing with a timing light right?

Is the cap and rotor in good shape? Nice and clean?

Just so you know, you can get a couple wires crossed and the engine will seem to run fine. I spent a whole week trying to diagnose and engine problem once and it was from a firing order issue.

Make sure the switch on the ESA isn't stuck closed. Like Bondo said, the lower shift cable can cause the ESA to be operating now which is causing the ignition not to work.

Take all the wires off the negative side of the coil except for the one that goes to the distributor. Once you get it running right, start adding the other wires one at a time.

 

[Tommywalton]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Bruce and bondo i found it. The genius replaced the fuel pump with holley red electric. I noticed when i started adding wires to neg side of coil the fuel pump changed tune? So i traced wires. Guess where he had the heavy positive wire? Thats right on the switched side of starter. Which also shares a connection with 12v side of coil.

I picked up another coil and it fired... I also picked up a 30 amp relay and isolated the fuel pump source and pertronix kit. This fixed everything. Freaking crossed up hacked up BS wiring

Thanks a lot for your help btw

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Freaking crossed up hacked up BS wiring

Ayuh,... That's the real Problem on the forums,.... We can't See, what you see...

We have to Assume, things are dead stock, unless otherwise stated,....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

That is also an explosion ready to happen if he didn't wire it up right. The fuel pump needs to be energized from a switched 12V through an oil pressure switch and also through the side of the starter solenoid so it gets energized while cranking. You don't want the fuel pump running if the ignition switch is on and the engine not running.

read this thread
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=439005



At least you are finding this stuff out now on dry land instead of the middle of a lake with the engine dead. I wonder what else he did.

 

[Tommywalton]

Re: 1988 omc ignition is garbage! Help!

Man i tell you what.. I tested it yesterday and when the key comes on the all i hear is fuel pump. I needed that thread because i knew that wasnt going to cut it. I will get an oil pressure switch and wire it up that way. If it were leaking and my boys turned on the key it could be bad. I have checked everything and thats all he changed i believe.

Oh one more thing.. Rubber 3/8 fuel hose to carb. I know thats wrong too from posting on here a couple years ago. I really need it all correct because unlike my old crap boat this one has ALL the cover and seats and everything over the engine. Its a good enough seal IMO to easily create a gas explosion.