Logo
FULL SITE MENU

1984 OMC 57L wonbt start

S

salt_fever

New member
"I've changed the spark pl

"I've changed the spark plugs, wires, rotor, cap, points, and condesor. Also changed the water / fuel filter. I've put a timing light on each of teh wires and turned it over and the light fires. I've checked the fuels supply and it is getting fuel. When I turn it over it sounds like it wants to start. Is there a master switch or something else to turn on before it will start? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks"
 
put a dwell meter on the coil

put a dwell meter on the coil If you get 12 volts when trying to start engine thats good. When the key goes to the run dose the dwell meter still show power or dose it go to 0. If it goes to 0 change the coil.
 
did you check the kill switch?

did you check the kill switch? is it in all the way?

can you pull the 2 wires off and tape them then try it.

You pulled a spark plug and and held it to the block to see you have spark?
 
Coil - I replaced the coil and

Coil - I replaced the coil and tried it but still the same.

Kill switch - i don't see one anywhere on the boat or engine. Is there a main switch or fuse that needs replacing?

Spark - I put a timing light on each of the wires and the light strobed when the engine was turned over...

Any other suggestions?
 
"run a wire straight from the

"run a wire straight from the battery pos side to the coil pos side and try it then, in the old days we called it hot wiring a car. do not let the wire however sit on the coil all the time could weld the points together if the points are closed.

You could put a switch on it but this is for testing it will take out of the equation the slav solenoid.

If it starts and runs then we will go from there.

and bye the way the points are touching when in the low lobe?"
 
Ran a wire from the battery to

Ran a wire from the battery to the positive side of the coil and it started. It wouldn't shut off until I disconnected the negative from the battery. I discovered a water leak from the top of the exhaust manifold where it turns up to the piece that has OMC printed on it. Looks like the gasket needs replacing.

Now that the hot wire worked what do you suggest next?

Thanks so much.
 
sounds to me the slav is bad.

sounds to me the slav is bad. know what a solenoid looks like? take the jumper wire off and clean the connections on the slav and post again after you try to start it. does not start replace slav solenoid and try it again. as to the leak post a pic or remove the elbow.

and please get a manual your gonna need it.
 
"original manual year specific

"original manual year specific from ebay guy in long island has them, second best is seloc # 3400 in right hand upper corner and i got mine at west marine. if you get a seloc like mine i can give page and paragraph so we can communicate better."
 
I changed the slave solenoid a

I changed the slave solenoid and fixed the water leak. Tried to start it and it wouldn't start and run. It would run when I hot wired it like last night.

I picked up a Clymer OMC Stearn Drive manual 1964 - 1986 at the shop today.
 
"bring back the manual and get

"bring back the manual and get what i posted or original manual. the one you have is only good for toilet paper.

ok i might get jumped on here for this but here goes.

It is possible to leave the jumper wire there, however you must understand it's up to you, if you want to, and i want you to understand what is involved.

the wire can be run to a unused switch at the helm, and what must be done is the switch can be thrown to run and then start the boat.

run the boat and when you wish to turn off the motor the switch must be thrown to off, or the boat won't shut off.

I don't know how old you are but cars used to be wired like that back when i was a young man.


so to start the boat throw the switch on turn the key and start the boat, run the boat, and turn the key switch to off and then throw the switch off.

Mark the switch with red paint or nail polish.

I have this setup in my 1985 stringer 3,0, have a bad harness and i had to rewire the tilt, and the coil the way i wanted to. i never could get good power to the tilt, and the coil, till i did the rewire.


"
 
"Chief...I'm not jumping o

"Chief...I'm not jumping on you here as I know exactly where you are coming from....but, personally I would rather fix the problem than have to circumvent it with a fix like that, of course it's up to saltfever but I would hang a meter on that post of the slave to verify it's putting out 12v and then I would check at the coil, it could be a bad wire from the slave to the coil and if so it's not that difficult to run a replacement wire and then everything would still be more or less factory wired. I pity the poor mechanic that may to work on it down the road and has no idea about the "Mystery Switch".
Just my 2 cents worth...again not jumping on you as I respect your knowledge and experience!"
 
"thats why i was didn't re

"thats why i was didn't really want to post what i did.

i been wrenching for more then 40 years more like 45.

i couldn't get a new harness for my rig 23 years old and the company is out of bus.

same as this guy, i wonder was the ground cleaned the main one, could it be that simple, in my case, the boat ran superbly for one year and, i was fixing so many wires that i knew i was getting into a unsafe condition.

so over a clear weekend about 4 years ago i and a electrical wizard, went over everything cleaning up the whole engine bay, straight wires, soldered up brass ends, in essence, made the boat safe again.

so to end a overly long post, i used same gauge wire as the original, but "created a new harness"

could be the main plug is corroded inside same as mine.

But original poster, done right it could be the ticket for you, think long and hard, and if you ever give over the boat to someone to work on tell them what you did.

No one works on my boat but me."
 
I appreciate both of your thou

I appreciate both of your thoughts on this. I looked under the dash to find out that the key switch has bare wire twisted toegther. I also saw residential lamp cord wires joined to low voltage wiring...basically a mess. I decided to bite the bullet and take the boat to a boat mechanic so they could determine the problem. I decided since the wiring is a problem what about the remainder of the boat...

I'll keep you posted.

By the way the manual is a worthless as you mentioned. I read you post after I bought the manual. Stupid mistake on my part!

Thanks again for you help an knowledge.
 
Well replaced the ignition swi

Well replaced the ignition switch and it started! But I have another problem...the water pump in the stearn drive is not working so no water is pumping to the engine.

Q: Is a boat of this age (1984) worth keeping due to the fact that OMC is no longer in business and parts are not readily available?
 
who says they are not availabl

who says they are not available? water pump with housing are all over just got to know where to look like this site at the top.
 
"The mechanic I took it to imp

"The mechanic I took it to implied that it was difficult to find parts for this engine and stearn drive due to the age. He is taking the stearn drive apart to check the impeller and is going to replace it. Again, thanks and I will keep you posted on the progress. We can't wait to get on the water."
 
All is fine now. Had to have

All is fine now. Had to have the impeller and seals replaced adn some other stuff. Works good now. Thanks again or your help and advice.
 
Back
Top