I am working on a boat that I am told has not run in 20 years or more. I put new plugs in last weekend and hooked up to fresh fuel and gave it a try but it would not fire. I looked more closely at the distributor and noticed that the wire from the coil was almost devoid of plastic insulation. I have pulled the distributor and am cleaning it up.
Several questions come to mind so I thought I would seek some answers here.
1. Is there a ballast resister somewhere? I don't recall seeing one on the engine. There was one on a similar vintage 140 HP 4 cylinder that I worked on last Saturday and that made me wonder if there should be one on this engine too. I had reasonable luck with that one. It had not run in about 3 or 4 years but fired up without much trouble and sounded good.
2. The distributor cam shaft is a little rusty. Do I dare clean it with some very fine emory cloth? I have tried scrubbing it with a green 3M pad but it is not coming totally clean.
3. I have scrubbed up the flat plate on which the points and condensor mount. Does any one see any reason it could not be painted? Once again there is a bit of rust and although I have scrubbed most of it off, I assume it will come back if I don't coat the metal with something.
4. I am assuming that there was either a small felt pad or perhaps a small round foam doodad that lubricated the distributor cam but it is gone. There is a plastic "stud" for lack of a better word with a slot in the middle that I believe once held the lubricator. Anyone have ideas for what I might use to replace that piece? I don't think it is available anymore.
5. Is there anything special about plug wires on a boat? Is there any reason to order in a set of Mercruiser wires as opposed to getting a set from the local parts store for an old Chevy pickup truck engine?
I am thinking there was another question to pose but I cannot think of it now so will post again if I think of it.
Randy
Several questions come to mind so I thought I would seek some answers here.
1. Is there a ballast resister somewhere? I don't recall seeing one on the engine. There was one on a similar vintage 140 HP 4 cylinder that I worked on last Saturday and that made me wonder if there should be one on this engine too. I had reasonable luck with that one. It had not run in about 3 or 4 years but fired up without much trouble and sounded good.
2. The distributor cam shaft is a little rusty. Do I dare clean it with some very fine emory cloth? I have tried scrubbing it with a green 3M pad but it is not coming totally clean.
3. I have scrubbed up the flat plate on which the points and condensor mount. Does any one see any reason it could not be painted? Once again there is a bit of rust and although I have scrubbed most of it off, I assume it will come back if I don't coat the metal with something.
4. I am assuming that there was either a small felt pad or perhaps a small round foam doodad that lubricated the distributor cam but it is gone. There is a plastic "stud" for lack of a better word with a slot in the middle that I believe once held the lubricator. Anyone have ideas for what I might use to replace that piece? I don't think it is available anymore.
5. Is there anything special about plug wires on a boat? Is there any reason to order in a set of Mercruiser wires as opposed to getting a set from the local parts store for an old Chevy pickup truck engine?
I am thinking there was another question to pose but I cannot think of it now so will post again if I think of it.
Randy
