no fire at the points

treeman

Seaman
Joined
Jun 28, 2006
Messages
73
i have a 1979 140 merc inboard. it is not getting any fire to points. i have cleaned them. what should i be looking for thanks. this motor has sit for some time. trying to see if i can get her to run. to decide if the boat is a keeper or to part her out.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,080
Re: no fire at the points

Normally you would have about 8V on the points when the ign key is in the run position. If you do not have this, your coil could be bad, or the wiring could be bad. if you have voltage at the points and still no file at the distributor tower, the coil could be bad or the condenser could be bad. Make sure the points are gapped correctly and they are clean.
 

Fishermark

Vice Admiral
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
5,617
Re: no fire at the points

it is not getting any fire to points. i have cleaned them

What do you mean by "not getting any fire to points" ? There is no voltage at the points? Or what? How did you clean them?

The chances are good they are simply glazed over and need to be replaced.
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: no fire at the points

You have too many posts going on the same problem. Here is your original on wanting to know how to test a coil. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=300831

What you should have asked is "No spark, why???" then we could help you find why you don't have spark.
In the other post I said to file the points. Did you?, even stated they were probably glazed over.

In the future,when you start a thread on a problem of not having spark, stick with it till you do. Don't start up a bunch of new threads with each thought, you never will figure it out.

How did you "Clean the points"? did you file the contact surfaces or what?

You can have the worlds best coil on that engine, and if the points are glazed over, it will not work.
Put in some new points and condenser, adjust them properly and see if you have spark.
 
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