'86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

[Chef Shawn]

Hello All,

Long story short, I swapped out a '86 140 for another '86 140. My "old" engine has a distributor without the points in it (sorry I don't know the correct name) and a both a red and black wire that go to the coil. The "new" engine has the old style distributor with points and a single black wire to the coil.

Not much experience with points, so I would like to swap these out? Do I need to pull the distributor too or just swap out the parts under the cap?

 

[Bondo]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Hello All,

Long story short, I swapped out a '86 140 for another '86 140. My "old" engine has a distributor without the points in it (sorry I don't know the correct name) and a both a red and black wire that go to the coil. The "new" engine has the old style distributor with points and a single black wire to the coil.

Not much experience with points, so I would like to swap these out? Do I need to pull the distributor too or just swap out the parts under the cap?

Ayuh,... Either way will work, as the distributors were the same in the beginnin'....

 

[Rake722]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Ayuh,... Either way will work, as the distributors were the same in the beginnin'....

If I am not mistaken the non point version is akin to or is a pertronix ignition kit.

You can swap the plate on the distributor out ot the whole thing like you suggested.

Check for the better dizzy - play in the shaft etc and use the one thats best.

You may need to bypass the resistor wire if using the electronic type.

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Resistor wire? As it sits now:

Coil Positive : Black wire from distributor and gray from wiring harness.
Coil Positive : Purple/yellow (from starter) Pink from wiring harness, red from distributor.


I ended up replacing just the plate under the distributor, no play in the distributor itself, so I should be in good shape. Briefly tried to start her up yesterday, but rained moved in. Motor turned over fine, but no fire so far. New plugs, checking for spark, making sure I'm getting gas to the carb, etc today. Then I'll start playing with the timing...

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

By pink wire, I mean REALLY faded purple wire from alternator which SELOC says is the resistance wire. Why would I need to remove that?

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

OK, so this project is taking a turn for the worse....

So I moved the newer distributor plate into the distributor and hooked everything up. The distributor hold-down bolt was loose, so I used a compression tester to roughly identify where TDC of #1 cylinder was. New plugs, newer coil (less than 6 hours on it, took it from the old motor)cap, rotor, plug wires are good. 7.5 volts to Positive side of Coil, KEY ON. 10.5 volts to same connection key turned to START....no spark at coil-to-distributor wire, thus no spark to plugs.

Thought I was crazy, put the old point-system back into the distributor, hooked everything up, same readings at coil of course, still no spark. In both cases I moved the distributor while cranking motor with no improvement. Cut-out switch is from old motor and had no problems with it last year. Double checked that I had everything hooked up correctly (I took a thousand pictures during dis-assembly).

Now scratching my head. Any ideas?

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Ing coil powered all of the time not opening coil to make high voltage when magnetic field collapse / spark. Something is shorted to ground in points when open it will fire , Wrong screws or insulated parts .

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Ing coil powered all of the time not opening coil to make high voltage when magnetic field collapse / spark. Something is shorted to ground in points when open it will fire , Wrong screws or insulated parts .

The screws that hold down the distributor plate have crappy rubber washers, but I don't know if that would make a difference. They screw into the housing, so would that be a grounding issue?

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Yep coil is switched after to ground and points ground and movable contact and wire after coil is insulated above ground /negative ,some where they shift interrupt to as that micro I sprayed areo kroil on and felt a shock on 12 vdc . had to blow out with air to fix my screw up .

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Replaced the rubber grommets/washer things on the distributor plate. Still no spark. This is making me mental!!!!

 

[jimbo_jwc]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

http://images.wemoto.com/full/POINTS/10010333.jpg
http://www.centerstateengine.com/Delco_Voyager_Installation_Guide.pdf

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

So this is what I am dealing with, not points. I have verified voltage (only 7-9 volts) from coil through distributor wire with multimeter, while cranking engine, hard to get a accurate read, no helpers...

But then no voltage from distributor to plug wires (still only testing cylinder #1). Distributor is in approximate position to fire cylinder one, but is loose enough so I can move it. Cap has no cracks, sanded down the little bit of carbon from rotor and inside cap.

Don't really want to start throwing parts at this thing, but I'm wondering if the pertronix ignitor somehow went bad. I never had trouble starting last season (even with a cracked block) and this was a direct swap from old engine to new, minus the distributor itself. Do I have to be EXACTLY ALIGNED to get a spark to the wire?

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Problem FINALLY SOLVED: "new engine" distributor was 180 out. Also electronic ignition failed, faulty sensor. So got dizzy in the right place, thru on a set of old school points, fired right up. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Hoosmatroos]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

Great to hear. Not the first one with a 180 out dist and sure not the last one.

 

[dubs283]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

FYI...

having the distributor 180 degrees off will not cause a no spark issue, the distributor does not care where it is located - as long as the coil has voltage, the (-) wire is connected and the internals are working properly it will trigger the coil to spark

 

[Chef Shawn]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

FYI...

having the distributor 180 degrees off will not cause a no spark issue, the distributor does not care where it is located - as long as the coil has voltage, the (-) wire is connected and the internals are working properly it will trigger the coil to spark

With all due respect, it will NOT fire if your $200 electronic ignition system takes a dump on you, lol. $25 point kit and I'm back in business. The second funniest part, 7 stores, NO Dwell meter. I even called rental shops, but all they had was for 6 and 8 cylinder engines. The guy at NAPA looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for a dwell meter. Now the funny part, finally found one at Sears, paid TOO much for it. Hooked everything up, timing good. Dwell good! DAMMIT!!! Anyone want to buy a dwell meter? Used once........

 

[dubs283]

Re: '86 Mercruiser 140 Distributor Question

With all due respect, it will NOT fire if your $200 electronic ignition system takes a dump on you

understood

if you read my post, you would have noted that i stated "and the internals are working properly" - any distributor will fire regardless of rotational location