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Electrical Gremlins ?


Millertime77

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I own a 1986 Skier with the 351 W. PCM model. It has prior to my owning the boat been converted to electronic ignition via pertronix system. I used the boat all last season with no hiccups whatsoever. Ran great, all the time. I take in the boat to get impeller, oil change, fuel filter, and had aftermarket depth finder added in. I also took it by the stereo shop to have 2 amps wired in for a sub and 6.5 inch speakers.

I get the boat back this week, head to the lake today, try starting the boat, turns over great sounds great, no spark it seems. I pull it out of the water , run by the mechanics place 1 mile over and sit in his driveway , spray in a bit of starting fluid across the spark arrestor, and voila fires right up like a charm, cut it off immediately as was not hooked to hose but it did have spark.

I go back to boat ramp, drop in, same deal, turns over, no spark , check wires dont seem to be getting spark ??? i pull out boat sitting on drive of boat ramp now perfectly horizontal in position, fires right up ??? What gives, it appears the boat does not have a spark if it is on an incline ? i drop all way into water, let out lead line, boat turns over, has no spark ? ??? WTF ???? My mechanic is now sitting with me in the boat , checking wires, leads, etc. nothing seems to shift to pinch a wire when the boat is pulled out or dropped in ???? We take off the coil thinking it may be the issue, try to start with coil upside down , held at an angle, on its side, right side up, makes no difference whatsoever fires right up as long as the boat is on level ground and out of the water ? ? ?

Starting to think there may be some type of a grounding issue ? What would have caused this to just now start ? I did have the aftermarket depth finder disconnected , haven't tried to start that way yet. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this ? Could the pertronix unit be going out and somehow sensitive to the angle the boat sits at or the hull being in the water ??? My boat mechanic and I chased wires, checked connections, all appear to be in good order ?

Why in the world won't this thing produce a spark when the boat is tilted at an angle on the boat ramp or the hull dipped into the water but starts just fine on dry level ground ?????

So i did remove the perfect pass system , since last season , just removed old wires by simply disconnecting them , and did add the aftermarket depth finder which YES it's wired into the ignition switch and was installed by my mechanic , and had 2 amps added for stereo , but they were just wired to power and to stereo ? I am not seeing a reason for this to be taking place ? Why on earth will it start up first try on level dry ground then never fire when dipped into the lake ?

Sorry for the long rant, just really really confused here.

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I get the boat back this week, head to the lake today, try starting the boat, turns over great sounds great, no spark it seems. I pull it out of the water , run by the mechanics place 1 mile over and sit in his driveway , spray in a bit of starting fluid across the spark arrestor, and voila fires right up like a charm, cut it off immediately as was not hooked to hose but it did have spark.

I go back to boat ramp, drop in, same deal, turns over, no spark , check wires dont seem to be getting spark ??? i pull out boat sitting on drive of boat ramp now perfectly horizontal in position, fires right up ??? What gives, it appears the boat does not have a spark if it is on an incline ? i drop all way into water, let out lead line, boat turns over, has no spark ? ??? WTF ???? My mechanic is now sitting with me in the boat , checking wires, leads, etc. nothing seems to shift to pinch a wire when the boat is pulled out or dropped in ???? We take off the coil thinking it may be the issue, try to start with coil upside down , held at an angle, on its side, right side up, makes no difference whatsoever fires right up as long as the boat is on level ground and out of the water ? ? ?

You say you cut it off immediately...makes me wonder if you have never gotten any fuel and it's only running on starter fluid. Put it back on an "incline" and start it with starter fluid and see if it continues to run.

Either way, when was the last time you replaced the distributor cap and rotor?

Edited by formulaben
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Thanks for the prompt response,

I bought the boat at the beginning of last summer so I am not sure of when the dist cap and rotor have last been replaced. It does have a pertronix electric ignition conversion completed already, given that are the cap and rotor still suspect ? I don't have much technical knowledge when it comes to the electrical system and how it operates.

i thought of the fuel issue , but the boat will start on flat dry land with no starter fluid , on the first bump of the key. Fuel was my first suspicion, but it seems to be ok and I just had the carb professionally rebuilt by my mechanic at the end of last season and we ran it for a good month or so before the winterization process with no issues whatsoever.

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Well, if it truly has no spark, the fuel is *not* the problem, and starting fluid won't help.

Does the boat have a cutoff switch? If so, try bypassing it. Maybe it's tired and doesn't like the way the clip hangs from it on the incline.

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Yes from what I can see ( along with my mechanic) there appears to be no spark when the boat is on the ramp or in the water ., both at an angle. As far as I know the boat does not have a cutoff switch , I assume you mean the lanyard type safety switch ? There is not a lanyard type cutoff on this boat as far as I can tell unless there used to be one that has been removed at some point in the past. I will explore that possibility, thanks for the idea !

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Prob. related to the work you had done on the stereo. Doubt it would be the Pertronix, but you should give it a visual to make sure it isn't cracked or corroded. My pertronix has been good for years now.

Check you cap and rotor?

Disconnect all the stereo stuff?

Start it on a fake a lake?

Did the mech verify it was getting gas when it wouldn't start? Maybe choke is stuck closed.

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Why would the stereo be involved? Same head unit as last year, all I did was add 2 amps, which are now wired to a 2nd battery ?? Not sure why it would start on dry land but not in the water or on incline on boat ramp ? I will go back through and check wiring, but not understanding how it could be related , if you can specify why it may be related to that it may help further ???

Didnt have time to get back on it today unfortunately.

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If you change something and then a problem immediately shows up,... you know. First assume it's related to the change.

Have you actually run it on a hose yet, til it came to temp.?

Or, it may be related to the inline or ballast resistor, in the main wiring harness, if you have one, i've been told. Consult a marine mechanic. They exist in MerCruisers, not sure about PCM.

Is the coil original or changed to a flamethrower (which some people do when they change to electronic convers.). Our crews pcm went thru 3 flamethrowers quickly. and it started/didn't start at random once or twice.

Maybe your boat is jealous of the new boats that aren't running right. haha

My coil was only 1 yr old o.e. when i changed to Pertornix point/condensor conversion. Been years now knock on wood.

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My guess is the mechanic who did the depth finder crossed the wrong wires on the ignition switch. Second guess is the engine isn't making a strong enough spark and needs a new cap, rotor, wires, and plugs.

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you need one of these to see if you are getting spark and be 100% sure.

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/new-in-line-spark-plug-tester-tool-test-ignition-system/221182329.html?listingId=138731011&scid=pla_google_tmswholesale&adid=18172&gclid=CPqgi4b55L0CFYt9OgodnHIA_g

turning the coil upside is ridiculous. if the boat is getting spark on flat ground it will be getting spark on an incline. as said try to start it on the incline with starting fluid and if it hits. let us know what happens.

also curious to know where the depth finder pick up was mounted and the wiring to it. if it was mounted on the transom and any knick in the wiring to it is getting wet when its puts in the water could be causing a grounding problem.

  • Like 1
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The depth finder is mounted behind the tranny on the bottom of the hull. We disengaged it , same issue.

The incline of the boat does not seem to have any effect. When it hits the water , the spark stops, I am wondering if it is some type of a grounding issue now. ????

Still checking possibilities.

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Are you turning on the blower, bilge pump, etc., when starting on the fake-a-lake? Meaning are you doing it EXACTLY as you would on the water? I know I'm speaking the obvious, but just gotta ask...

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  • 1 month later...

A little digging into the wiring harness and we found the issue, basically tis old boat has had so many wiring mods done in the past we just started from scratch with the wiring harness. My mechanic re-wired the harness and that solved our issues, still not sure why the boat hitting the water was causing to ground out, but the boat is running like a champ now and that is all that matters. All accessories are now wired to their own switch and everything on the dash works as it should yes even the fuel gauge (after changing out the sending unit). Man, what a Pain in the a** ! All worth it though she runs like a dream. I will try to get pics up of the new interior on my next trip to the lake. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

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