Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

[ringmaster72]

I have a 1990 Mercruiser 4.3. I was hooking up a stereo system in my boat this afternoon and had to put the battery charger on it since the batteries were about dead from playing the stereo for so long.

When I was finishing up I heard something "bubbling" so looking around I noticed that it was the ignition coil boiling the grease material on top of the coil (i am assuming it is grease to protect the terminals on the coil).

So I touched the coil and it was really hot so I was thinking I must have a short. So I checked all of the wires attached to the coil and none of them were hot, except where they were touching the coil. Any ideas?

I have not had the motor running this season yet, and did not try it today--I do not have the fuel pump hooked up yet.

Thanks
Tim

 

[Don S]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Tell me you don't have to have the ignition switch on to play the stereo. If you do, then you have some problem wiring on your boat.

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

No, I do not have to have the ignition switch on for the stereo, but I have an amplifier that needs a key powered wire in order to work. That is why the ign. was on. Do you have any thoughts on the coil issue?

Thanks
Tim

 

[Don S]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Yes, get everything off the ignition switch but the ignition.
Everything else amps, pumps, blowers, lights should ALL come off an accessory fuse panel.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

if you have points ignition it's a big no no. you'll burn up the points and possibly the coil. When the key is on essentially your building up 30+ thousand volts in the ignition coil with no place to go.

If you only have a 3 position keyswitch (off, run and start) consider getting a 4 position switch (ACC, off, run and start) for that amp, or just screw threw the dash and put a toggle switch and relay in to use as a turn on for your amp.

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Hmm, the amp only uses the power from the ignition to turn itself on, there is no real power going through that wire. But, it would be no problem to run it another way in order to get it off of the ignition switch. So, I guess what you guys are saying is that it is normal for the coil to get that hot if the key is left in the "on" position and not running? If that is the case I will definitely rewire the amp.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

yes its normal.... and bad.

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Gotcha, I will redo it and hope I did not already burn the coil up. Do you think it hurt the distributor as well? The wires to the Dist. were not hot, it is a point dist converted to electronic.

 

[Don S]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Do you think it hurt the distributor as well?

Guessing won't help, time will tell.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

and hope I did not already burn the coil up.

Ayuh,.... I'll bet Otherwise....The stuff you saw Boiling off it, Used to be In it...

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Yeah, I am just going to buy a new coil and chalk it up as lesson learned. If the old one still works, I will just keep it as a spare. I just hope the dist. is ok.

 

[danond]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Also - hook the amp up right and connect it to the turn-on wire coming from your head unit.

 

[smarston]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

I cannot agree more with the above poster. Having done a lot of car audio electronics over the last 18 years I can attest. Never run the amp's turn on lead off of an ignition source. It is bad for the amp, bad for the speakers and in a boats case a complete disaster for the ignition system. Run it off of the turn on lead off of the deck you have in it. It would be either a solid blue or blue and white wire. If you have both, it is the Blue/white wire. This will prevent the amp from making a pop through the speakers when turning the deck on and off, or turning the ignition on or off. The higher the gain is set on the amp, the louder and more damaging this "thump" would be.

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: Should Ignition Coil be really hot when boat is not running?

Your amp and any amp for that matter doesent need the ign switch to turn on at all!

What you do is use the power antenna lead from the stereo as the remote switch on the amp. That wire is a 12 vold trigger essentially to turn on an amp or raise a power antenna.

You can run a seperate higher amperage +12 volts to the amp or run it off the same 12 volts powering the radio. It just depends how much powert the amp is. A big amp would want a higher amperage 12 volt feed but you still use the antenna line to connect to the REM on the amp.
The antenna line on the stereo is usually blue....Im an audio guy and I used to do car audio a long time ago. Boat audio is simple as simple can be.

ABOVE poster beat me to it hes got it !