Hey All,
Been searching posts but can't find my fix yet. I have an 89
Merc.Alpha 1 3.0 that was winterized last year and sadly jus ttrying
to fire it up today. It turns over but no ignition. I cna see gas
shooting in carbs and I've tried ether to no avail. I took a
multimeter out and with the neg. on the neg. battery terminal I get
12V on both terminals on top of coil and also coming out of the center
coil wire. the circuit breaker doesn't seem tripped and when I put the
center coil wire next to an engine bolt and cranked there was no
spark...Any body have any suggestions as to which way to go??
Thanks all
yowilly

Check your ignition points.

wrote in message
ps.com...
| Hey All,
| Been searching posts but can't find my fix yet. I have an 89
| Merc.Alpha 1 3.0 that was winterized last year and sadly jus ttrying
| to fire it up today. It turns over but no ignition. I cna see gas
| shooting in carbs and I've tried ether to no avail. I took a
| multimeter out and with the neg. on the neg. battery terminal I get
| 12V on both terminals on top of coil and also coming out of the center
| coil wire. the circuit breaker doesn't seem tripped and when I put the
| center coil wire next to an engine bolt and cranked there was no
| spark...Any body have any suggestions as to which way to go??
| Thanks all
| yowilly
|

I'm thinking no points in 89.

!2v on both sides of the coil doesn't tell you if you are getting spark or
not. Pull the coil wire from the top of the distributor, put a phillips
screwdriver in it, hold the blade of the screw driver close to some metal
and have someone crank it. You should get a spark from the screwdriver
blade to the metal. If you do then you have rotor, cap or wire issues.

If you don't then you got no spark. Make sure the micro switche on the
shift plate is not engaging. This stalls the engine to allow it to shift.
If you are not sure disconnect the wire from the shift plate and try it. If
it starts your shift cable probably needs adjusting.

No spark is one of three things, ignition trigger, ignition module, or coil.
You can test the coil with a ohm meter. There may be a ohm reading for the
ignition trigger as well. The modules are very reliable.

"Jim" wrote in message
link.net...
Check your ignition points.

wrote in message
ps.com...
| Hey All,
| Been searching posts but can't find my fix yet. I have an 89
| Merc.Alpha 1 3.0 that was winterized last year and sadly jus ttrying
| to fire it up today. It turns over but no ignition. I cna see gas
| shooting in carbs and I've tried ether to no avail. I took a
| multimeter out and with the neg. on the neg. battery terminal I get
| 12V on both terminals on top of coil and also coming out of the center
| coil wire. the circuit breaker doesn't seem tripped and when I put the
| center coil wire next to an engine bolt and cranked there was no
| spark...Any body have any suggestions as to which way to go??
| Thanks all
| yowilly
|

Thanks gentlemen,
There are points/condensor, all that crap I haven' t dealt with since
my 79 Ford. I did check the micro switch but it disengages the starter
too when enganged so not that. The cap and rotor looked good then the
skies opened up so I'll check the points and again for a spark
tomorrow. One question which is the negative on the coil...both
terminals when tapped with the positive lead of the VOM showed
positive?
Thanks for your help...momma says no money for fixing this toy til I
paint the house.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks gentlemen,
There are points/condensor, all that crap I haven' t dealt with since
my 79 Ford. I did check the micro switch but it disengages the starter
too when enganged so not that. The cap and rotor looked good then the
skies opened up so I'll check the points and again for a spark
tomorrow. One question which is the negative on the coil...both
terminals when tapped with the positive lead of the VOM showed
positive?
Thanks for your help...momma says no money for fixing this toy til I
paint the house.


The lead to the points should be negative. If you have 12v on both sides
then the points are open. Turn the engine a little and see if you ever get
less than 12v. If never, then the points are always open. Unless the coild
comes from a CDI module.

That's surprising. My 1990 has a thunderbolt V ignition. The first cdi
ignition on a merc was in the late 60s. Is that the original engine? Maybe
points remained available on the entry level engines for a while.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks gentlemen,
There are points/condensor, all that crap I haven' t dealt with since
my 79 Ford. I did check the micro switch but it disengages the starter
too when enganged so not that. The cap and rotor looked good then the
skies opened up so I'll check the points and again for a spark
tomorrow. One question which is the negative on the coil...both
terminals when tapped with the positive lead of the VOM showed
positive?
Thanks for your help...momma says no money for fixing this toy til I
paint the house.

Jim wrote:
Check your ignition points.

wrote in message
ps.com...
| Hey All,
| Been searching posts but can't find my fix yet. I have an 89
| Merc.Alpha 1 3.0 that was winterized last year and sadly jus ttrying
| to fire it up today. It turns over but no ignition. I cna see gas
| shooting in carbs and I've tried ether to no avail. I took a
| multimeter out and with the neg. on the neg. battery terminal I get
| 12V on both terminals on top of coil and also coming out of the center
| coil wire. the circuit breaker doesn't seem tripped and when I put the
| center coil wire next to an engine bolt and cranked there was no
| spark...Any body have any suggestions as to which way to go??
| Thanks all
| yowilly
|


Make sure the kill sw cord is connected.

Capt Jack R..

Thanks guys for all your input. Between painting, work and rain I did
check the gap and it was ok. Long and short, I put new rotor, points
and condensor in today and it fired right up. Now if I can get it to
idle ok I'd be fine but thats for another day. Anyways..thansk for all
your help you all.
yowilly