I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a problem on the water the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

On Jul 29, 3:25*pm, aslappy1 wrote:
I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a *problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

--
aslappy1

It could be the module, but it seems interesting that it ran until you
had a starter failure.

On Jul 29, 9:34*pm, Tim wrote:
On Jul 29, 3:25*pm, aslappy1 wrote:

I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a *problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

--
aslappy1

It could be the module, but it seems interesting that it ran until you
had a starter failure.

Put a volt meter on the 12v line going into the module and see what
you have while it's cranking. It seems unlikely that the module went
bad the same time the starter did. The merc thunderbolt modules are
extremely reliable. That it would have some spark does not point me
to the module first. It's doing the same thing for all 4 plugs. I'd
be checking the rest of the ignition first. But only afer I found I
was getting 8 to 10 volts at the ignition while cranking. If you
suspect low voltage you can also hook a second battery to the ignition
temporarily while you troubleshoot. It can be a smaller battery like
a riding mover, jetski, etc. Don't try it by substituting a charger
though.

Exactly what was wrong with the starter and what diagnostic steps did
you take before deciding to replace the starter?

On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:31 +0100, aslappy1
wrote:


I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

If there's a coil there, I'd check it out.
--

John H

On Aug 2, 10:47*am, John H wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:31 +0100, aslappy1
wrote:



I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a *problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

If there's a coil there, I'd check it out.
--

John H

He has weak spark. About the only check for weak spark that you can
do with a coil is to try another one. I'd still check for low voltage
at the ignition before anything else.

The ignition power on boats typically travels up to the helm from a
battery in the rear and then back to the ignition. Through multiple
friction fit connectors and fuse holders. I got tired of cleaning
connections on my 95 and installed one of those "ice cube" relays at
the engine. Now the keyed ignition line from the helm pulls the relay
which feeds 12 v to the engine on a much shorter path directly from
the battery with a 10amp circuit breaker on it.

"jamesgangnc" wrote in message
...
On Aug 2, 10:47 am, John H wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:31 +0100, aslappy1

wrote:



I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

If there's a coil there, I'd check it out.
--

John H

He has weak spark. About the only check for weak spark that you can
do with a coil is to try another one. I'd still check for low voltage
at the ignition before anything else.

The ignition power on boats typically travels up to the helm from a
battery in the rear and then back to the ignition. Through multiple
friction fit connectors and fuse holders. I got tired of cleaning
connections on my 95 and installed one of those "ice cube" relays at
the engine. Now the keyed ignition line from the helm pulls the relay
which feeds 12 v to the engine on a much shorter path directly from
the battery with a 10amp circuit breaker on it.

And if it points ignition, the condensor bad will also make for a bad spark.

On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:40:46 -0700 (PDT), jamesgangnc
wrote:

On Aug 2, 10:47*am, John H wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:31 +0100, aslappy1
wrote:



I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a *problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

If there's a coil there, I'd check it out.
--

John H

He has weak spark. About the only check for weak spark that you can
do with a coil is to try another one. I'd still check for low voltage
at the ignition before anything else.

The ignition power on boats typically travels up to the helm from a
battery in the rear and then back to the ignition. Through multiple
friction fit connectors and fuse holders. I got tired of cleaning
connections on my 95 and installed one of those "ice cube" relays at
the engine. Now the keyed ignition line from the helm pulls the relay
which feeds 12 v to the engine on a much shorter path directly from
the battery with a 10amp circuit breaker on it.

I had two coils go out on a Mercruiser. Replacing them is not overly expensive.
Both times I got a 'weak spark' at the plugs. They went out because water was
continuously dripping on them from the live well mounted above them in the
transom. ProLine did a ****ty job of sealing the live well.
--

John H

On Aug 2, 1:05*pm, "Bill McKee" wrote:
"jamesgangnc" wrote in message

...
On Aug 2, 10:47 am, John H wrote:





On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:25:31 +0100, aslappy1

wrote:

I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run. It
cranks and all but wont start. And the only plug that is firing good
enough to get across a plug is cyl 2. The others are getting enough
juice threw them to light a tester light but not strong enough to fire a
plug. My guess is its the ignition module and I have one on its way. any
ideas what it could be if that dosent fix the problem?

If there's a coil there, I'd check it out.
--

John H

He has weak spark. *About the only check for weak spark that you can
do with a coil is to try another one. *I'd still check for low voltage
at the ignition before anything else.

The ignition power on boats typically travels up to the helm from a
battery in the rear and then back to the ignition. *Through multiple
friction fit connectors and fuse holders. *I got tired of cleaning
connections on my 95 and installed one of those "ice cube" relays at
the engine. *Now the keyed ignition line from the helm pulls the relay
which feeds 12 v to the engine on a much shorter path directly from
the battery with a 10amp circuit breaker on it.

And if it points ignition, the condensor bad will also make for a bad spark.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

He already said it was a 98 merc. That's thunderbolt electronic
ignition.

On Aug 3, 5:57*pm, "Califbill" wrote:
"jamesgangnc" wrote in message

...





On Aug 2, 7:20 pm, "Paul Hovnanian P.E." wrote:
Tim wrote:
On Jul 29, 3:25 pm, aslappy1 wrote:
I have a 98 bayliner with a 3.0 mercruiser had a *problem on the water
the starter went. Had it towed fixed the starter and now it wont run.