TSC wrote:

I hear ya, Rob, but I don't think I stated things clearly. I meant to say
that I pulled the coil wire and held it near a ground. I ALSO looked for
spark at the spark plug wire. I did NOT do both tests at the same time,
although my statement makes it look like I did! I realize that there will be
no spark at the plug wires if the coil wire is disconnected!

I will check for 12 volts. I would have done so tonight, but my multimeter
had a dead battery. Would I hold the probes to the pos and neg on the coil,
or am I better off using another ground point?

Back to the ballast resistor, I know what a ballast resistor from an old
Dodge looks like, and I know what it does, but I cannot find one in the
wiring diagram or on the boat.



You are SOL w/o checking coil voltage, (+) to ground, not the switched
(-) of the coil. You can use a 12 volt test probe or even a 1156 or 904
12v bulb to confirm there is power to the coil if your meter is DOA.

There really is no sense in checking for spark distribution or
generation until you get your ignition primary side confirmed working.

I still don't get the part about checking the spark at the points...

Rob