Ford OMC 23 litre with ignition problems

" I have a 1989 18' Baylin

" I have a 1989 18' Bayliner with a ford OMC 2.3 Liter inboard engine. When i let the engine run at idle for about 10 minutes it starts backfiring. The reason to this is that the points burnes out. The engine has just been to an complete overhaul and all ignitionparts are new. I am beginning to suspect the resistor wire becose i get 11.8 vdc on the points, i heard that it should only be about 9 vdc. Is there any conversion kits to electronic ignition available. I am fed up with point ignition. Any help with this would be appreciated !

Frode from Norway. "

FRODE

1. DO NOT UNDER ANY

FRODE

1. DO NOT UNDER ANY CONDITION IDLE A NEW MOTOR FOR TEN MINUTES.

2. DON'T DIS POINTS. THEY ARE EASY AND CHEAP AND RELATIVELY TROUBLE FREE IF THE BOAT IS PROPERLY MAINTAINED.

3. YES THERE ARE CONVERSION KITS OUT THERE. I DON'T KNOW WHO MAKES ONE FOR A 2.3 FORD.

4. THE SYSTEM MAY HAVE A RESISTOR WIRE OR A BALLAST RESISTOR IN THE SYSTEM. SOUNDS TO ME LIKE IT WAS OMITTED WHEN THE ENGINE WAS CHANGED. THERE SHOULD BE BATTERY VOLTAGE AT THE COIL WHILE CRANKING AND 6-8 VOLT WHILE RUNNING.
NORMALLY TWO PURPLE WIRES ATTACH AT THE + SIDE.
STEVE

" Frode,
Boat ignition sys

" Frode,
Boat ignition system should use coils that DO NOT require external ballast for safety reasons. Do you have the right coil? I agree with Boatrep1. Point ignitions are easy and inexpensive to maintain. With a few spare parts you can easily remedy even the rare ignition breakdowns that occure.
Eddie "

How did you make out with your

How did you make out with your ignition problems? I have the same engine and have had problems with mine as well.I have a manual and yes their is a resisster wire also i get over 11 volts at the coil as well. I'm thinking maybe the voltage regulator i get a constant charge of 14.7 volts .

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"If your voltage regulator run

"If your voltage regulator runs away, ie: loses it's ability to regulate the voltage, and instead of not charging, it overcharges, you can burn points. A resistor wire applies a ceretain resistance to voltage and current flow, and if the voltage is increased, due to a runaway regulator, then that end voltage will also be higher. If you should be getting 9, and you are getting 12, I'd bet if you measured line voltage, or battery voltage while running at high idle (1500 rpm WITH WATER BEING SUPPLIED TO THE ENGINE!!!-most alternators that are self exciting need that rpm to wake up and start charging) you'd also find it 2-3 volts higher as well. Say 15-16, a typical runaway regulator kinda voltage. The resister wire may even be hot to the touch through the harness wrap. I've seen this exact same condition on 2.3's shortly after spring startup, which is also when I do most of my alternator work. People don't know the difference between red and black, usually due to battery terminals being poorly identified. Dunno why 2.3's Mallory's seem to suffer from this more than other engines, but I've seen it on older Mercruiser Chev 2.5's as well. Everyone notices undervoltage, rarely does anyone complain about overvoltage unless they have breaker point ignition, something we see less of every year. On breakerless, owners just get used to buying new batteries every 2 years and blame winter storage for killing the old ones. Let me know if this leads anywhere helpful, I love these tricky ignition problems.

One other thing a lot of people overlook when diagnosing ignition. Your tach is part of your ignition system. It directly connects to the (-) on the coil, on OMC's it's grey. A bad tach can make an ignition system ground out. I've seen flaky tachs make an engine crap out at a specific r.p.m. every time the needle moved to that spot on the face. 8 hours diagnosis on that one. Actually took 3 or 4 days on and off, with tantrums and gnashing of teeth in between. Ignition problems...gotta love 'em.

Good luck!"

"9 volt coils means that they

"9 volt coils means that they should get 9 volts at 12,8 volt battery current (fully charged). At running engine you will have a full charge voltage at 14,8-15,2 which should give you close to 12 volts on the coil. If you have trouble with burning out contacts it is normally caused by a defective condencer.I have the feeling someone may have put in a bad or wrong condenser in your engine!
If the capacity in the condencer is too small it may cause the discharge to early and thus give you a spark jump between the contacts giving the same symptoms as a wronly timed ignition. A grounded tack will normally cut out the ignition and either shut it down or it misses.
A resitor wire does either work or burn off giving no current. What it cannot do is encrease the current. If you have 12 Volts in on the coil marked 9volts , engine not running, someone has made som wrong wireing.
What do You mean by complete owerhaul? Is it engine dismantle with pistons, head, cambelt etc or it is just a normal tune up?"

"Sorry to jump in but as in my

"Sorry to jump in but as in my post I had the same problem although i think it is solved.I was told on omc engines to use original omc condensers (18 bucks a crack)I installed one ran great for 5or 6 hours then condensor went bad,installed another and now a couple months later my points are fine!I might add that i still have 11.4 volts at coil,checked my resistor wire proper resistance (according to my omc manual)I even wired in a additional resistor (still 11 v) had alternator bench tested 14.4 volts (normal)so I'M WITH YOU MORTEN close to 12v must be normal,I've had 5 people tell me my volts were too high and all along it was the condensor!Good stuff Morten"