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1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

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Trick414
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1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:23 pm

Hey all,

I'll attach a video of my tach meter.

https://youtu.be/bPOnvnEK0SQ

I just replaced the ignition components with a Pertronix Ignitor II, new wires and coil.

Once we got the idle dialed in, she fires up quickly. But, you can see from the video that there is a stumble or miss. I'm not seeing any pattern to it, but I'll be glad to be wrong.

I'm not sure the timing is set perfectly, because I haven't taken her out after the ignition swap.

I'll probably swap out the plugs because why not?

I'm currently running 100LL aviation gas.

Here's some history, but I will be glad to check anything/everything!

Last time I checked, the compression was near 120 on ALL cylinders. I can check them again if anyone suspects a particular cylinder is suspect.

I adjusted the valves last year (hasn't really been run since). See my previous posts.

Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17oMSDL ... sp=sharing
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

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drrot
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Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by drrot » Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:27 pm

Which distributor do you have? I'd put the points back in and see what happens.
Jim Staib
www.finewoodboats.com


1947 Penn Yan 12' Cartopper WXH474611
1950 Chris-Craft 22' Sportsman U-22-1532
1957 Chris-Craft 26' Sea Skiff SK-26-515
1968 Century 17' Resorter FG-68-174

Trick414
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Richland-Chambers Reservoir, Corsicana, Texas, USA
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Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Sat Jul 11, 2020 3:23 pm

drrot wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:27 pm
Which distributor do you have? I'd put the points back in and see what happens.
I knew, knew, knew that this was going to be the answer.

The only reason I posted up is because I thought that JUST MAYBE there was some other issue.

Nope.

IGW-4149.

I replaced the Pertronix and put in the points.

Fired right up, no stumble.

I could write whole books on my troubles with Pertronix.

I'm pretty sure there is some issue with my wiring, because I have literally tried 6 different ignition units in two different distributors.

IGW-4140 and IAY-4009.

**EDIT: I want to make sure that everyone knows that I think that any issue with the Pertronix is on my end. I'm not sure what it would be at this point, but I can't believe that a company that produces such a product has these issues. I belive the issue is on my end.
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

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drrot
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Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by drrot » Sat Jul 11, 2020 5:20 pm

There is an issue with the smaller distributor kits.
Jim Staib
www.finewoodboats.com


1947 Penn Yan 12' Cartopper WXH474611
1950 Chris-Craft 22' Sportsman U-22-1532
1957 Chris-Craft 26' Sea Skiff SK-26-515
1968 Century 17' Resorter FG-68-174

Trick414
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Richland-Chambers Reservoir, Corsicana, Texas, USA
Contact:

Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Sat Jul 11, 2020 7:10 pm

drrot wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 5:20 pm
There is an issue with the smaller distributor kits.
Jim,

Grrr, of course there is.

If I remember right, the boat came (when I got it anyway) with the smaller 4149A. At the time, in 2010, Pertronix didn't have an Ignitor II available for that distributor. (That might not be true, as their website isn't up to date, even today. I talked to them about it, but in true Pertronix fashion they blew me off)

I threw that distributor in the parts bin and bought a 4009 from Van Ness. I put the Pertronix on it. I had medium luck with that over the years. I should note that I never had the boat in the water much because I was restoring it.

If you've read any of my posts, between restoring her, moving to the lake, and finally getting settled in, it was just last year that I got the boat out a number of times. I was running the 4009 with the Ignitor II and a HUGE distributor cap. See my youtube channel for info on that.

Anyway, I really wanted to switch back to the 4149A, since it was smaller and fit in better.

I was excited to get the Ignitor II for it. (Again, it may have been available back in 2010, but the website was...lacking.)

I had tons of trouble getting it running with the 4149A. Pertronix advised me to replace the wires and the coil with their parts. They also replaced the Ignitor with a new unit, so it was actually brand new this morning (along with the wires and coil), so I'm certain nothing was incompatible.

When it fired up, but did not run great, I was pretty sure the Ignitor was at fault. But, I grasped at straws.

I never had the little 4149A rebuilt, and other than spraying some cleaning solution and lube on it, I can only assume the advance works well enough. I think the dwell might be a bit off, but I'll check that tomorrow along with the gap.

But, she did fire up and idled perfectly with the old points. I'll attach a really quick clip, not sure why it didn't record longer. But, she was rock solid for the minute or so I ran it. I'll mess with it more tomorrow. The "Feels Like" 105 degrees today drove me inside.

Thanks!

All my family on my father's side is scattered around you... Rhinelander, Eagle River, etc. I grew up in Rhinelander before moving to Texas for college.

https://youtu.be/4rgQzzASMB8
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

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drrot
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Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by drrot » Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:22 am

Here. Maybe this will help with the heat!
blowinsnow.jpg
Jim Staib
www.finewoodboats.com


1947 Penn Yan 12' Cartopper WXH474611
1950 Chris-Craft 22' Sportsman U-22-1532
1957 Chris-Craft 26' Sea Skiff SK-26-515
1968 Century 17' Resorter FG-68-174

Trick414
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Richland-Chambers Reservoir, Corsicana, Texas, USA
Contact:

Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Wed Jul 15, 2020 4:38 pm

I went out yesterday and fired it up to set the idle and check the dwell/gap.

She fired right up, but as we dialed in the idle speed she started stumbling.

It got worse and after a few minutes the coil was red hot and the distributor was hot as well. She finally wouldn't run at all.

The points seemed to be shot, and the coil was suspect as well.

I swapped out the coil and points this morning with new parts.

I was getting a short-to-ground signal from my voltmeter from something in the dash wiring. Something is definitely wrong up there. I'll run it down tomorrow.

Anyway, I isolated the dash components and fired it up with the new parts. Instant start and she seemed to run fine.

Attached is a video of the tach meter. How does it look? It's not perfect in my eyes, but maybe it's ok????

Thanks!

https://youtu.be/pgQ56kwKkeQ
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

Trick414
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Richland-Chambers Reservoir, Corsicana, Texas, USA
Contact:

Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:15 pm

So, the adventure continues!

My wife and I took her out today, with my wife driving and I played mechanic.

Overall, it was a success. We had a blast!

The temperature was rock solid (see previous posts) and she purred right along with the new points and coil.

Once we got up to operating temp, I had the wife open her up a bit.

We did get some steam/oil blowback up from the oil fill tube.

I'm thinking that was some old water burning off from the oil from last year (again, see previous posts).

The oil pressure also dropped from about 32 pounds, down to about 25 pounds. I haven't checked the specs yet, but I think that's ok?

I'm going to change out the oil, AGAIN, and see what happens.
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

Trick414
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Richland-Chambers Reservoir, Corsicana, Texas, USA
Contact:

Re: 1951 Riviera KLC Ignition Stumble

Post by Trick414 » Thu Dec 15, 2022 2:55 pm

Jim,

I forgot about this thread! I might have mentioned this elsewhere, or told you directly, but my memory is shoddy.

I had the gauges restored by Kocian back in 2010. The tach gauge had three posts on the back. Two of them were labeled on the back plate. The third one was labeled on the side of the gauge. "Ground".

Somehow, in all the restoration, the ground never got hooked up. The label was covered up when it was installed. I only realized it when I pulled the gauge to send it back to Kocian. I connected the ground and the problems with the coil went away.

I'm sure the Ignitor II will be fine when I install it this winter.
1951 Riviera 18' KLC
Hull Registry

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