Blower kills ignition...sometimes

bspeth

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I usually start my 84 3.8L with the engine cover open and without the blower on.Sometimes when I switch the blower on while under power it kills the ignition and all gages.The blower says on it that it is ignition protected. Can somebody explain this to me.I ran the blower for about 1 minute then turned on the engine in my yard,worked fine. Then I let it sit and started it without the blower,worked fine and the ignition stayed on when I hit the blower.Any help would be appreciated,it was too windy to paddle yesterday(and my wifes friend is a whale). When we lost ignition at the lake,it just started working again after 20 minutes or so.Thx.
 
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thumpar

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

What is the engine? Mercruiser didn't use the 3.8l. It sounds more like an ignition problem to me. It may be the sudden small voltage drop from the blower being turned on that is enough to make the problem present. The ignition protection on the blower is just a marine thing to prevent a spark that could ignite fumes just like the protection on the starter, alternator, ect. Check all your grounds too. That could cause a bigger voltage drop.
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

In 84 and 85 I think they did it is a mercruiser 185.serial 6681735.-B
 

thumpar

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Yep they did. Never heard of one of those. Only the OMC 3.8l.

You could try measuring the voltage at the coil while running and switch on the blower to see if there is a voltage drop enough to kill it. When it does this is it always around 20 minutes before restart? Is this only after running for awhile?
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Yes it is only after running awhile,I have experienced the problem twice and both time with the engine running for a while.One time it came back on after a couple minutes and one time after 20 mins.The boat is new to me so I am getting to know it still and it is my first boat.-B
 

thumpar

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Have the points been set or changed recently?
 

achris

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

....The blower says on it that it is ignition protected. Can somebody explain this to me....

In this case 'ignition' refers to the starting of a fire, not the system that creates the spark for the spark plug. It is built to operate without creating or 'igniting' a fire or explosion.

Back to topic. Is the blower power wire coming directly from the engine instrument cluster, or are the accessories through their own, completely separate power system? ie, the only common point is the battery?

Yep they did. Never heard of one of those. Only the OMC 3.8l. ...

Genuine Merc manual #7.... (it's a weird engine. It has an uneven crank and odd lobes on the distributor cam...)

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NHGuy

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

You probably have a bad ground somewhere. I'd start by tightening any electrical connections that are bolted or screwed down. Start out by disconnecting one battery terminal. Do all the grounds and any alternator connections, also do the connections from the battery to the motor, and all the connections at the starter and the remote solenoid. Make sure to find the blower wiring and clean all the connections for it, including cleaning the switch contacts and it's fuse contacts or circuit breaker contacts. Any contacts that look corroded should be disconnected, wire brushed and hooked back up. The rest can just be hand tightened to be sure they are snug.
Now run it and see if your problem persists. If it does you can clean up the master plug, it's kind of a pain in the derriere but you gotta have electrics.
I did mine by unplugging it, then I took fine grit emery cloth and cut off little bits which I rolled up and used to sand the insides of the smaller plug holes, then I wrapped some emery cloth around the shaft of a snipped off q tip to do the larger holes. I turned some more emery cloth around the other way and used it on the male plug ends. Then I took a sharp pocket knife and used it to spread the male contacts a tiny bit. Last I put a little dielectric grease, just a little bit, in each hole, being careful not to create tracks between the different circuits. I used a cut off q tip to place the grease.
Before I did this I had all kinds of wierd things going on with my gauges. That was 4 years ago, not a problem since.
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

The blower runs through the fuseblock to the switch and all the way back to the blower.The points have probably had no attention whatsoever. I will check the grounds and clean the master plug and I will get back at you in the next couple days.Thx
 

achris

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

The blower runs through the fuseblock to the switch and all the way back to the blower.The points have probably had no attention whatsoever. I will check the grounds and clean the master plug and I will get back at you in the next couple days.Thx

And where does the power for the fuse block come from?
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Just traced it down and the fuse block is fed through the main plug coming from engine and goes through the ignition switch also.The pos spade connector on the fuse block was actually quite loose so I crimped it closed a little more and put it back on and it is tight now.
 

achris

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Just traced it down and the fuse block is fed through the main plug coming from engine and goes through the ignition switch also......

Bad idea... Really bad :facepalm:

Run a new positive from the battery switch to the fuse panel. ONLY engine stuff should be on the engine circuits, other stuff needs to be separated out.... The last thing you want when you're 15 miles out to sea with a 45 knot Nor'wester breathing down your neck is some stupid blower shutting your engine down!!!
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Ok but I have no battery switch yet.So just run it to the battery? I recrimped the grounds to the eye connector at the block,the blower ground was in there for certain. I cleaned up my main plug male and females and put some anti oxidant on them.So do you think separating them will cure my issue for sure? At worst the blower will not work,is that correct? Thanks for the tips guys.
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

One more thing,my neutral safety switch is cut out of the loop,can you think of any reason why this would be so? It seems to work it has continuity in neutral but not when shifted into forward/reverse.I would really hate to end up on the boat ramp someday without my trailer under me.
 

84EdH

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Yes, at worse your blower wont work. It just wont kill your engine now. Did you test the blower to see if it works? No good reason why neutral safety switch"cut out of the loop" emphasis safety.
 

thumpar

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

If you run a wire from the battery to to the fuse panel make sure you put a fuse on it at the battery side.
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Yes blower works,I could not get it to kill the engine while on muffs however. How big of a fuse should I use? The accessories on the fuse block are: blower,bilge pump,winshield wiper,radio,VHF radio,depth gage,nav lights. I was thinking about running a #10.
 

thumpar

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

I would go bigger than 10 amp. Something like 30 or 40. It is really just there incase that wire grounds out. Also make sure you run a big enough wire. When I did mine I used 8 gauge. Napa sells it by the foot.
 

bspeth

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

Separated out the accessory fuse panel,the volt gage shows much less of a drop when shutting on the blower and I could not still get the problem to occur on muffs.Guess I have to go to the lake to see for sure.Thanks for the tips guys-Blair
 

500dollar744ti

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Re: Blower kills ignition...sometimes

In 84 and 85 I think they did it is a mercruiser 185.serial 6681735.-B

It was an oddball motor but not odd in design. Like the GM 262ci (4.3) V6 is based on the 350ci (5.7) V8, the GM 229ci (3.8) V6 is based on the 305ci (5.0) V8. Contrary to what most people think, the 3.8 it is a Chevy motor based on the 305, not related to the 3.8 Buick V6.

I assume they stopped using it because the 4.3 took up the same amount of space and made more power, making it a much more popular item.
 
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