"TSC" wrote in message
...
Still working on this, and there must be something I am missing.

This is a 1987 Mercruiser Stern Drive with a 3.8 Litre 165 Horsepower four
cylinder

Get yourself a repair manual (will have the wiring schematics) and a good
voltmeter. Make sure you have power to everything then start disconnecting
everything that taps power off the coil. My boat would start to miss and
then die. Turned out the tach was shorted and grounding out the coil. With
a good volt meter you can work your way though the electrical system. You
may also consider converting from points to an electronic system. The kits
are less then $100 and will take you about an hour (summit racing and Jegs
have the marine kits). They give you a new plate that takes place of the
points/condenser plate in the distributor. We saw a world of difference
starting and much less gas usage. In fact we were able to stretch a 75 gal
fuel tank to last the whole season last year.

good luck,
mark