1983 350 G/K won't start... Please Help

Hi all my name is Chris I have a 1983 Chris Craft Catalina 251, with the mallory ignition. A few weeks ago I went down to the boat to run it and it started but was surging a few hundred rpms, and would not idle. When i brought the throttle down to idle it would stall and blow the ignition fuse at the key. I cleaned all the terminals on the coil, and distributor. At this point the fuse stopped blowing but the engine still would not idle and would not even stop when i turned off the key. Upon further inspection I found oil seeping out of the coil. So I got a new coil, points, cap rotor, condenser. I installed the coil first hoping that that was the problem, I mainly just bought the other parts as a precaution. Its been a while since any of them have been replaced and they looked to be due for replacement. After replacing just the coil it would not start. It was firing off but would not start and run. I then replaced the cap, rotor, points, and condenser. Still nothing. The last thing I changed was the ballast resister(which was looking pretty shabby as well) and still nothing. Im at the end of the line at this point and am not sure what to do now. If anyone can shed some light on my situation it would be greatly appreciated. Its starting to get cold here in Jersey and I need to make arrangements to get this boat moving, hauled and winterized. Thanks in advance for any help i can get.

I'd check the timing, dwell and gap on the points if you haven"t already. Sometimes the mechanical spark advance gets gummed up or the springs get weak so inspect that as this will cause problems as well. Also take a look at the ignition switch to make sure it's not shorting out. Do the same with your wires from the switch to the coil, battery, starter solenoid and ground. Once you get it figured out I'd seriously consider replacing the points and condenser with an electronic ignition variety like Hot Spark or similar (www.hot-spark.com).

Good luck and keep us posted.

Dave

Take your 28 year old ignition distributor in and have the curve/limit checked on a Distributor Machine.
The person doing the work can tell you instantly whether or not the flyweight springs have been causing an erratic spark lead.
An erratic spark lead within the idle rpm range, can cause an uneven idle.
Weak and/or broken flyweight return springs can cause this.

FYI... we should see zero mechanical advance until out of the idle rpm range....... perhaps no sooner than 1k rpm and above ONLY.
No need for any until out of this range, IMO.


I don't mean to step on Dave's toes here.... but I'd recommend steering clear of the Hot Spark or Pertronix type Hall Effecct conversion systems.
I'd sooner consider an upgrade to a Mallory YLM (VR) ignition.
You get new everything; housing, shaft bushings, gear, cap/rotor/triggering system, advancing system...., etc..... and no Hall Effect triggering!
(sorry Dave! )


As for the continued running, see if your ignition circuit also provides alternator field circuit power.
Some systems share this circuit!
If so, and if the alternator diodes were to act up, a back-feed of current may prevent the shut-down of the ignition, not allowing for engine shut-down.
This may not be the case with yours, but is certainly something to look into.

.

Thank you for your input. I got the engine running this morning. The gap on the points was off. As soon as I set it, the engine started right up. However the engine is still surging slightly. The Tach is reading about 1500rpms high at idle and the engine will not shut off when I turn off the key. I feel like its just a short in the wiring now somewhere. If nothing else I will be able to get it to the marina, hauled and winterized before it gets too cold out. Thanks for your input Chris

RicardoMarine said:

I don't mean to step on Dave's toes here.... but I'd recommend steering clear of the Hot Spark or Pertronix type Hall Effecct conversion systems.
I'd sooner consider an upgrade to a Mallory YLM (VR) ignition.
You get new everything; housing, shaft bushings, gear, cap/rotor/triggering system, advancing system...., etc..... and no Hall Effect triggering!
(sorry Dave! )
.

Click to expand...

Ricardo,

No worries, I would love to upgrade to a modern distributor but mine have the mechanical tach drive and I don't know a source for a replacement. If you do I'd like to know about it! About the best I could do would be convert my OEM cable driven tachs to electronic and that coupled with two new distributors just isn't in the budget right now. I guess I could go digital but that just seems wrong somehow for a 1966 cruiser! I am aware of the Hall Effect triggering issue and the only thing I can do there is make sure I have the proper air gap. So far so good but I've only been running this setup for two seasons.

Dave