HELP! Engine Won't Start - Looking For Ideas

Here's a little trick I use. Turn the engine to TDC on the timing marks on the crank. Find #1 plug wire in the cap. Now remove the cap and see where the rotor is pointing. Had this been done to start you would have seen that the rotor was 180 out to start with. At this point you could have just rewired the cap and seen if it would have started or at least fired before tearing the front off.

Stranger things have happened but jumping 180 is very uncommon. A couple teeth yes but 180?? How many times did the mechanic rotate the engine to see if the marks would line up?
 
we've been through the TDC and rotor location routine a number of times already.......will be reconfirming those things again today.

I don't feel baad about opening up the front of the engine and changing that timing set......we didn't like the looks of the old set that was there anyway.

I agree.....we've rethought the 180 degrees out theory and I think we were mistaken with that train of thought.

The second mechanic I consulted who immediately said....."sounds electrical" is looking more and more right all the time.

my latest wiring anomaly I found yesterday is sounding more and more like the possible culprit that may have been driving the ICM crazy. All to be investigated further today......in fact heading there in a few minutes to get back at it.
 
You know I'm not questioning your diagnostics but made the comment just in case. It's never a bad idea to change the timing set on an engine with a few hours so no harm no foul.
I had my idle valve stick in the carb last summer. Engine ran great then shut down. It would not start unless I pumped the throttle to get enough flow to start it but it would only idle down to 1200 then die.

I rebuilt the carb and freed the idle plunger and all is good.

Hope you get it straightened out.
 
Ok....you're now killing me! So what was it
 
Well guys....first of all....thanks to all of you who have offered thoughts and suggestions. This forum is bloody awesome.

A few of you were right on the money.....a couple times even I was right there as well....but didn't follow my gut at that point.

A couple of quotes from the past few days:

"Also is the coil giving the plugs a good sting spark?"

"a bad coil can make the ECM act nutty."

and me:

"The coil hasn't been changed...but I'm tempted."


yeah well......it's been changed now....and we're up and running.:smt038

When the boat first died and I got pulled to the dock 2 weeks ago.....one of the first things that came out of my mouth was "I wonder if I lost a coil or something?"

The first mechanic who was on site the next day got me into changing the cap, rotor and plugs, Then the pick up. That was fine...good tune up stuff anyway, But he checked for spark and found spark.

Second mechanic did the same.....found spark.

Things then started steering us towards the timing set....which we changed. No luck.

Back to more electrical trouble shooting.

It appears now....what they found was too weak a spark....and an inconsistent spark.

My guy yesterday finally clipped his timing light onto the coil wire.....and he got a very erratic......inconsistent flash of the light when I cranked the engine.

A new $61.00 coil.....and boom.....away she went .:smt021

Set the timing on it right on the mark.....and took her out for a run.....and everything looked and felt back to normal.

I don't regret at all the parts I changed. All good tune up stuff.....and a new timing set on an engine with 1140 hours on it. Not exactly a bad thing.

What I do regret is the amount of time we spent chasing our tails.......and NOT applying the K.I.S.S. principle as strictly as we should have and eliminated ALL of the easier things first before tearing into the engine.

Anyway....I ended up with some new parts......a good tune up.....and good lessons learned.

So I guess the moral of the story.....for anyone encountering similar issues in the future......don't lose sight of the forest for the trees. THOROUGHLY investigate and exhaust and eliminate ALL of the easier things that could be causing problems first BEFORE heading into more difficult territory.

Now all I need is better weather so we can get back out on the water and enjoy this old girl.

Thanks guys.
 
Congrats to you and the KISS principle. You used a lot of parts but none were a waste of time. Even the timing set is a good idea with that many hours on an engine. You may have eliminated a problem proactively.:thumbsup:
 
I've been following this thread didn't think I could contribute anymore knowledge than you were already getting, glad to see you found the problem anyone can get discouraged throwing parts at a problem even with a qualified mechanic helping.
Glad you back on the water, it's in the high 80's to mid 90's here 20* above normal.

Maybe we should start a thread on Troubleshooting TB IV & 5 Carbed engines starting with this post.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/67519-HELP!-Engine-Won-t-Start-Looking-For-Ideas/page2

and this thread (which I had forgot about) and any other threads anyone can think of I've seen others but can't find them right now, could save some folks money & a lot of frustration to have it in one thread.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/62806-TBV-ignition-electronics-troubleshooting
 
There are some really interesting issues going on right now.

We do have the general maintenance and repair but it's a broad brush.
Maybe 2 repair tabs in the forum catalog. One for carb'd and one for Injection but then you would need one for distributors with points, with out points, and coil packs.

Hard to break down but well worth the discussion. Maybe someone has an answer.
 
OldSkool said:
There are some really interesting issues going on right now.

We do have the general maintenance and repair but it's a broad brush.
Maybe 2 repair tabs in the forum catalog. One for carb'd and one for Injection but then you would need one for distributors with points, with out points, and coil packs.

Hard to break down but well worth the discussion. Maybe someone has an answer.
Click to expand...

Here's a sample from iboats maybe follow a pattern similar to it.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...77-must-have-technical-information-for-diyers
 
Excellent! Glad you solved the problem......I have had first hand experience with a weak spark from a coil causing starting/running issues......that is why I suggested to be sure the spark is 'fat and blue'.....a thin yellow spark is too weak to run the engine....

hope the weather breaks for you soon....

cliff
 
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