97 Sunsetter won't start, has fuel

[n24wheelin]

My 97 Sunsetter with the Monsoon 330 engine ran great yesterday, today it won't start. I cracked the fuel line at the injection rail, and plenty of fuel there. It turns over great but never heard any indication that it was firing at all. Kill switch is fine, no breakers popped, not sure what to check next, any suggestions?

[tdelandsheer]

If she's turning over and has fuel check for spark. Make sure It's in neutral too.

[JasonK]

Cap and rotor.

[footndale]

32 minutes ago, n24wheelin said:

My 97 Sunsetter with the Monsoon 330 engine ran great yesterday, today it won't start. I cracked the fuel line at the injection rail, and plenty of fuel there. It turns over great but never heard any indication that it was firing at all. Kill switch is fine, no breakers popped, not sure what to check next, any suggestions?

It has a kill switch? Bypass it and see if it works.

Check the coil and see if that is getting juice to the spark plugs.

 

http://www.themalibucrew.com/index.php?/forums/topic/25158-no-start-troubleshooting-procedure/&

[SDWATERMAN]

If your Sunsetter is running Points and condenser check that, I had the same issue 2 weeks ago on my 1990 Mystere, thought it was fuel pump but quickly crossed that off after fuel pump sprayed me pretty good.... turned out it was the spring that closed the points that had snapped. I replaced with Pertronix electronic ignition and flamethrower coil (just to make it a matching set, old coil would have been fine) and the boat which was very low on battery (because I kept trying to turn it over to diagnose) and gapped with fuel from pulling apart pump fired up stronger that it ever has and yesterday at the lake it ran overall much smoother than ever. Coil and new distributor components took @20 min to install and best upgrade we have done to this boat.

[n24wheelin]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check 'me out when I get back to the lake Thursday.

[tvano]

 

[n24wheelin]

If I don't have spark (and I'm 99.9% sure that I don't) what is the most likely culprit? No points and condenser, it has an electronic ignition. I already checked to be sure all connectors were clean and plugged in and no fuses blown under the cover at the back of the engine.

[obaro15]

Did you check the cap and rotor?  

[Pra4sno]

4 hours ago, n24wheelin said:

If I don't have spark (and I'm 99.9% sure that I don't) what is the most likely culprit? No points and condenser, it has an electronic ignition. I already checked to be sure all connectors were clean and plugged in and no fuses blown under the cover at the back of the engine.

Malibu hasn't used points since they came out with the thunderbolt, which even my 93 has. 

@tvano  provided the correct document for your troubleshooting. 

If it was me, having just gone through a hot starting issue of my own, I'd consider the following:  If the boat was running the day before and just stopped without any signs, it's mostly likely a single line issue.  This makes me point to first check your ICM = ignition control module.  A few people on here this year have had no starts caused by this.  It is in the troubleshooting guide as a component that has the one symptom: no spark at ignition coil. 

Fortunately ICM is a cheap part and so is an ignition coil if you think its providing a weak spark.  

My hot starting issue was my ignition coil.  Spark was barely jumping 1/4" and was yellow.  New coil jumps 3/8ths and is brilliant white.  The coil was $20.  ICM I bought but didn't need to use was like $15 at Oreilly's.  I'd wager its not the coil as the boat will still sputter if the coil is weak.  With ICM it will crank and flood with no sputtering at all.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Pra4sno

[n24wheelin]

Changed cap, module in the distributor and coil, still no spark. Any ideas? Anyone have a wiring diagram for the Monsoon 320?

[n24wheelin]

Forgot to mention that I also bypassed the kill switch, and made sure that the main breaker on the engine was not tripped. Also checked all the other breakers, none are tripped.

[formulaben]

55 minutes ago, n24wheelin said:

Changed cap, module in the distributor and coil, still no spark. Any ideas? Anyone have a wiring diagram for the Monsoon 320?

No rotor change?  The inside of the rotor can develop corrosion and while looking perfectly brand new, will attenuate the spark to all spark plugs.

[n24wheelin]

No spark from the coil wire to ground.

[n24wheelin]

SOLVED!

Turned out to be the pickup coil in the distributor! Finally found it using the Distributor Ignition System Check procedure in the Indmar MEFI manual, on Pages 5-54 thru 5-57 in the following link:  https://www.bakesonline.com/images/MediaLibrary/Indmar_MEFI4manual.pdf