97 Mercury 20 HP 2-stroke NO SPARK

[scumfrogmillionaire]

So I decided to do some preventative maintenance on my 20 hp Merc. The motor started and ran fine days before this. I noticed a bunch of corrosion on the spark plug cables, so I decided to pull them and clean them. While doing so I may have gotten a little water inside one of the coil packs when plugging the cables back in (not sure if this is the problem). Upon doing so, no spark whatsoever and the motor won’t start. I had 1 brand new coil pack laying around, and ordered brand new plug cables. Replaced 1 of the 2 packs and both spark plug cables and still no spark. How would I go about diagnosing this? I’m not going to just go out and buy another coil pack without knowing the problem. All wire connections and grounds were not touched. I simply cleaned the cables with water/vinegar, and re-plugged in.

 

[flyingscott]

Did you hit the kill switch by any chance

 

[scumfrogmillionaire]

That was the first thing I checked since it's the exact same symptom as if the killswitch was off. I should mention that this is a pull-start as well. Started first or second pull every time before I decided to change the plugs, cables, and coil. Question: Would 1 bad coil still allow the engine to start? I will re-check the spark on both plugs tonight and confirm that I'm not getting spark.

 

[Berni01]

I just had a problem losing spark on my mercury 110. Was running and then no spark. I used a multimeter to check for resistance in plug wires. Whit a little bit of research I was able to get the specs for my stator and coils and checked all that. Checked the capacitor and that was the prob. I had a used one from another ignition system (same part number) and it started right up.

 

[scumfrogmillionaire]

Thanks for your input Berni. I took a brief look at it last night and I was wrong. 1 cylinder was getting spark and the other wasn't. I swapped wires and the other cylinder got spark. It's the green/yellow wire from the power pack to the coil that is giving me issues. Now to figure out if it goes beyond the powerpack or not..