Flamethrower 2 Coil, or Stock Coil???

[astuckey]

Hi, I have a 1988 OMC 4.3l that I just installed a pertronix ignitor 2 in. Note: this is the stock coil, and on other modifications have been made, other than replacing the old ESA with CDI's 123-9898-P. I attached the black wire of the ignitor to the (-) coil, and the red wire of the ignitor to the alternator, at the same post that the resister wire is attached to. There is about 1.3 ohms of resistance win the resister wire, and about 1.6 ohms in the coil, for a total of 2.9 to 3 ohms, which is what it should be, for the sake of the ESA. Everything works, with not really any noticable preformance improvement.

When I bought the ignitor 2, I got a flamethrower 2 coil with it, which I have not installed yet. I also bought a 1.2 ohm ballast resister from Napa auto parts. My question is, should I install the new, flamethrower 2 coil, with the current resister wire, AND the ballast resister (adding up to 3 ohms) or should I leave my current setup? A stronger spark would be nice, but I am wondering if installing the new coil will affect the ESA? I have read about the ESA burning up with these coils, but will it work with the proper 3 ohms of resistance?

Thanks!

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Flamethrower 2 Coil, or Stock Coil???

electronic ignition replacing a properly working set of points will not yield a performance improvement. It is just for reduced maintenance.

A coil capable of a hotter spark is great, but it is only CAPABLE of a hotter spark. The voltage across the gap of your plugs is only what it needs to be. These claims of 50,000V etc are fine, but you probably have between 5000 and 10000 volts when you are boating, which your stock coil produces the same as any aftermarket coil will.

What do you have the plugs gapped to?
You could potentially (pun), increase the gap with a hi performance coil and increase the voltage, but if you expect a noticeable performance gain in a stock 4.3, you will be disappointed.

If things work well as is, I'd leave them.

If you don't already have a stainless steel prop, that's where people get noticeable performance gains.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Flamethrower 2 Coil, or Stock Coil???

I agree with Howard.

Any performance increase people think they get is a placebo effect assuming the original points system was adjusted properly.