Mercury 2 stroke how do I check electrical for spark

" It's a 1971 Mercury 80HP

" It's a 1971 Mercury 80HP, we were on vacation and had to cut it short by a week. had been using it daily for a week, then a few hours after using it, went out to start it and it turns over great, but wont start. How do I trace the problem? I checked the mixture is 50 to 1. Next removed the spark plugs, and found no electrode like typical plugs. I wanted to check for spark by leaning it against the heads while cranking and looking for spark. Any way to check the electrical? It looks like there are only three things in the system...the coil, or where the center wire comes from to the distributor cap, and just above that is a block about 1"x4"x5", no idea what that is, and another smaller block that looks like its filled with a black epoxie, again no idea what that is? Thunderbolt Ignition HELP! Thanks Ken Moore "

Ken... You can check for spar

Ken... You can check for spark by leaning the plugs against the powerhead. The plugs you have are normal for that motor and will show the spark around the center of the plug. That block thing as you call it is your trigger and is tied into the switchbox mounted on your front cover bracket. If there is no spark it could be any of these things (including coil)...DJ

Ken... You can check for spar

Ken... You can check for spark by leaning the plugs against the powerhead. The plugs you have are normal for that motor and will show the spark around the center of the plug. That block thing as you call it is your trigger and is tied into the switchbox mounted on your front cover bracket. If there is no spark it could be any of these things (including coil)...DJ

" I have a question about my 2

" I have a question about my 2001 Mercury elpto 50 hp 3cyl motor,a friend of mine said that it really is made by Yamaha,1st- is that true and 2nd-whoever makes it has anyone herd anything bad about this engine. I have aprox 5-6 hrs on motor and have had a few problem with it. one was I was going down the river first couple hours of running and the engine just dropped to a idle and started clicking?I worked throtle back and forth,nothing,then I put into neutral and back to forward, it clunked back into gear and drove fine,It has never done that since.any ideas what that was? "

sorry I think I posted in the

sorry I think I posted in the wrong area

" Earl... The motor you have

" Earl... The motor you have is not made by Yamaha! In my experiences with that motor I haven,t seen any major problems. Check to make sure your throttle and shift cables are not loose at the motor end. There is a clip to hold them in place that may not have been snapped in properly....DJ "