On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 18:34:42 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 22:59:09 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 17:21:51 -0500, "Dave" wrote:

I've got a 1979 34' Silverton with Chrysler M360B engines (with electronic
ignition). This past season I've had the stbd engine suddenly die a few
times while at cruising speed. (Boy, is it unnerving when the boat suddenly
veers to stbd!) Oil pressure is always good; so is water temp. I thought it
might be some water in the gas - each engine has its own draw tube
(seperated widely) from the gas tank. I treated the tank with gas drier,
but still had a recurrence. The problem is very infrequent (makes it
difficult to diagnose). When it does happen, I can usually get the engine
re-started in 5 to 30 minutes - in fact sometimes it's so brief that the
engine sputters a little then comes back to normal speed. Somebody
suggested to me that Chrysler Marine electronic ignitions have a large
resistor on the primary side of the ignition coil, and sometimes this
component develops an intermittent open circuit at high temperatures.
Anyone had this experience? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

The resistor is a possibility, but I would suspect the ignition module
if it hasn't been changed.

You might also want to look at ignition coils, engine block grounds,
coil wires (if equipped) that kind of thing - the way you describe it,
the most obvious is probably the culprit.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
"I object to fishing tournaments less for
what they do to fish than what they do to
fishermen." Ted Williams - 1964

The best opportunity to troubleshoot this problem is when it *doesn't*
run. Are you getting spark? Are you getting fuel. It is not unusual
for the ballast resistor to go tango uniform, but it usually is a
fatality not subject to resurrection.... I'm guessing a coil
problem..... but there are a *lot* of possibilities.....

I helped a guy one time with a Mercruiser 4.0 with the Thunderbolt
ignition - drove me nuts until I figured out that the ignition was
causing the problem - a little circuit cooler figured that one out.
:)

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
"I object to fishing tournaments less for
what they do to fish than what they do to
fishermen." Ted Williams - 1964