Boat Buzz

My boat has sat in the driveway for 21 days due to unavoidable circumstances. I last ran it to flush out the Chesapeake water and check on some work I did to the lead carb [KFL engine.] It ran fine then.
Now I go to start it, and I don't even get a cough or sputter. I charged up the battery, still no start. There's gas in the carbs.
I checked voltage at the battery and got 12.7 volts. At the coil with the ignition on I'm only getting 10.6 volts.
Is that drop normal? Is that enough to power my Pertronix ignition? Any ideas? Thanks.

Hit it with a short blast of starting fluid. If it pops it is a fuel issue. If not it is ignition.

Last Friday when I was out on an evening cruise my starboard engine just plain quit. Got back to the dock and unloaded the passengers expecting to find a fuel problem. Did as Jim suggests and nothing. Took off the dist. cap wiped out the moisture and she started right up. Happened one more time later that evening, same issue, same fix, been running great ever since. The humidity levels have been out of sight!

OK, I went up to East Penn and got a new battery. Gave it a shot of Pyrol and it started right up and ran perfectly. Later, I tried to start it again without the Pyrol, but nothing doing. Also, still only 10.9 volts at the coil[engine not running.]
Why has my engine become a Pyrol junkie?

Moosemeat wrote:Why has my engine become a Pyrol junkie?

It's just like heroin, once they are on it there is no getting them off.

Moosemeat wrote:OK, I went up to East Penn and got a new battery. Gave it a shot of Pyrol and it started right up and ran perfectly. Later, I tried to start it again without the Pyrol, but nothing doing. Also, still only 10.9 volts at the coil[engine not running.]
Why has my engine become a Pyrol junkie?

Disconnect the wire to the positive side of the coil.
Run a jumper wire from battery positive the the positive terminal of the coil. Go to the key and see if it starts. If it does the you have a problem in the wiring between the ign switch and the coil.

10 volts is not enough to power the pertronix.

I have a voltage drop from 12.6 to 9 when cranking with the pertronix module in my '57 KFL. It will not start without starting fluid. Once it starts, it will run. At higher RPMs and after running for several minutes, I am getting some smoke appearing, which I think is from wiring; however, I cannot see where it is originating.

Could this be a grounding issue? Should the original ground wire from the distributor be retained and attached to the negative side of the coil, along with the negative lead from the pertronix module?

With the hotter coil, should I replace all of the ignition wires with 12ga or 10ga?

Thanks in advance,
Rick

Does not sound like you have an electrical issue to me. If it starts with starter fluid why would you have an electrical issue ?

No you don't need the original ground wire to the distributor. Just the negative from the coil to the pertronix.

The only high voltage from the coil goes to the center of the distributor cap so no need to upgrade ignition wires.

As far as the smoke goes it sounds like an exhaust leak or maybe coming out the oil fill tube.

Mark

Pertronix says the voltage needs to be higher than 10v for proper operation. What could explain the voltage drop from 12.6 to 9 from the "on" position and the "start" position from the ignition switch if it is not an electrical issue? Also, it will bog down and die if the RPMs are lower than 1k when shifting into gear.

I have adjusted the timing, in an attempt to correct the issue, but to no avail.

Just chasing down gremlins...

The drop from 12.6 to 9 volts in the start position is most likely due to the starter draw.

If you are getting that much drop I suspect you either have a weak battery (load test it at 1/2 the CCA rating of the battery) or you have a worn out starter. (perform a starter draw test) There are other gremlins that can cause trouble (corroded connections, wires broken inside the insulation, ....) but the two I mention are the most likely.

Good luck!

Troy good point on CCA. Most people think if their battery voltage is good then they are set.

I just got a battery tester after suspecting mine was getting weaker. Voltage is fine but down to 139 CCA (was 620 new).

These testers are not expensive and easy to use.

Mark