Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

JHuck

Seaman
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
63
Okay crew, I need your help. As I write this, my engine is sitting idle on a dyno until I can figure things out.

My 383 finally went to the dyno today. I'm using AFR 195's, Holley 750, custom marine cam (214/218) and stock Merc Thunderbolt V out of our '95 Baja Islander. Burning 87 octane with 9.5 comp ratio. Engine fired right up and after initial warm up/break in he pulled the lever. It seemed to run good up to 4700 then it started popping and missing. Dont' have the numbers in front of me since we aren't done but I think torque was 430 at 4500 and hp was 380 at 4700. Cam was ground to go to 5500.

Went online at the machine shop and found a thread on setting proper base timing with the Thun V thinking the timing was the issue. Ground out the purple/white wire with key off but this did not seem to keep the module from advancing the timing once it was brought off idle (still grounded). We un-grounded it during the next pull, still no good. Trying something else, machinist thought the stock knock sensor might be picking up some harmonics from the dyno so we pulled the plug. Made a difference. TQ went to 460 ft/lbs at 4600 (412 ft/lbs at 2900:)) and hp went to 400 but everything went to hell above that.

AF ratio looks spot on so everything points to ignition. I printed out the Merc harness diagram from the net and thought everything was good to go. We wired the dyno ignition wire into the #5 slot in the harness. With 98% volumetric efficiency, my machinist thinks I can get another 40-50 hp out of it with an additional 800 rpm. Any thoughts?

Have already looked at an MSD pro billet marine distributor and 6AL with rev limiter. Problem is it won?t come in until Tue morning.
 

boatguya1

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
444
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

What is the WOT RPM range for the motor you got the thunderbolt 5 out of?
Sounds like you found the rev limiter.

James
 

cooter2506

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 8, 2007
Messages
733
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

WOT of the t5 is probably 4400-4800. Rev limiter proabably kicks in around 5200 rpm.
 

JHuck

Seaman
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
63
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

It ran 4,900 at WOT last season. Today it would start losing power at 4800.
 

boatguya1

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
444
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

WOT of the t5 is probably 4400-4800. Rev limiter proabably kicks in around 5200 rpm.

Are you saying the WOT range for all thunderbolt V ignitions is 4400-4800 or that you know what ignition the OP is using? I could be wrong for sure but I thought rev limiter kicked in 100-200 rpm's above the top WOT RPM. Original equipment TB5 ignition modules came in lots of different part numbers for different applications.

To the Op- Was the 4900 rpm's you saw previously on the boat tach or a shop tach? I'm guessing the dyno tach is pretty accurate. Again I could be completely wrong, but I think you could be on the rev limiter of the TB5 module you are using. I wouldn't sweat it untill I ran the MSD ignition. The numbers you are getting sound healthy for the rpm's.

James
 

JHuck

Seaman
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
63
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

The 4,900 was on the boat's tach.

It sounds like there are a couple things that aren't working in my favor using the stock ignition for this application.
1. Rev limiter coming in before peak hp.
2. Advance curve not able to give full 36 degrees which is what this engine probably wants.

With the money I've invested in the motor and the money I spent on the initial dyno session yesterday, I'm leaning heavily toward the MSD pro-billet marine and spark box (...but honey, it's only another $500). I assume I can still use the other parts of the harness for oil pressure and tach but I'll be losing the knock sensor. Not a big concern since I have 9.5 comp with aluminum heads and we are tuning it with 87 octane.
 

wca_tim

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 28, 2007
Messages
1,708
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

You could also run a thunderbolt 4 if you can't get the current set-up to do what you want. could get one used for reasonable cost and is a very good ignition system.

I presume someone on here will chime in with better understanding of t 5.
 

boatguya1

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
444
Re: Engine sitting on dyno-ignition gremlins!!!

A quick check of a merc training notebook from a class I went to in 98 or 99 shows the Thunderbolt V rev limiter coming on around 100 rpm over the top WOT rpm figure for the ignition module being used. The WOT range varies from motor to motor.

James
 
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