low speed misfire

hey i am kinda new to boats. i have a 1988 OMC 2.3 that among many other things was just converted to a pertronix electronic ignition and flamethrower II coil. i wired per the instructions. now i have a skip under 2500 rpm. seems ok above 2500. also (even before the ignition upgrade) the engine never reaches full rpm 4800 max on a good day(may still be carb/fuel related). the prop is what belongs on the boat per the manual. when it misses the volt Gage drops off for a quick sec and the tach drops off at the same time like a loose connection. all are tight. voltage at the battery never drops and alternator voltage never drops. i thought i had a short so i ran a fresh power wire from the back of the alternator to the + side of the coil and ran a new external tach unhooking the OE tach wire and esa wires. still the same. the distributor, cap,rotor,wire set and plugs are all new and the ESA is unhooked. when running if i put my meter leads on the - side coil connection when it misses the voltage at the - side drops off in sync with the volt gage( + side stays 13-14v). im hoping some one has run in to this and can help. i may be missing some thing but im pulling my hair out trying to find this. i have spent so much time screwing around with this boat i just want to enjoy it for one day with out working in it. any help would be appreciated. thanks, brian

Remove the wire from the alt to the coil. I never in over 45 years of wrenching have ever jumped that way a engine. If you wanted steady power to the coil jump from the pos side of the battery to the pos side of the coil with a switch, so you can shut off the engine. What kit did you install ? Me i would replace the entire dist, not just throw in a kit to convert the old one the shaft could be loose. Also i think you had a resister wire going to the old dist.

Concerning the rpm issue here is a post copied and pasted from another site. Follow the list.
Merc 5.0l Lack of power no rpm over 3000rpm

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/showthread.php?218065-OMC-Cobra-23-electronic-ignition this post is why i wires the power the way i did. in 10 years of wrenching i have never wired something this way either. i tryed direct power from the battery...did not help.the wire on the back of the alt. is power with the key on engine off and running only. key off it has no power. the power at that small wire is consistent. there are pics in the link above. as for the dist. it and the aux shaft that runs it are new only about 15-20 hrs on them. there was a resistance wire going to the old coil that per the install directions say to "bypass" witch i did.
PNX-45111 COIL FLAME-THROWER II (0.6 OHM

PNX-9ML-141 IGNITOR II MALLORY 25 & 26 SER is what i installed.

so i emailed pertronix and they sent me this test sheet. i had a bad ground in
the dist. housing. i cleaned up thee block and retested ok. runs great now.
would have been nice to have this test procedure from the start
12 VOLT NEGATIVE GROUND TESTS

Socorro Alcocer 12/28/2010

•
Ignitor “MUST” be grounded properly.

•
Make sure that your breaker plate is grounded to the distributor housing.

•
Distributor Housing needs to be grounded to engine or intake.

•
Check contact surface area of distributor “Hold down Bracket” for proper ground.

It is imperative that the power and grounds be checked as part of the installation procedure. After installing the kit

within the distributor and with the distributor in the engine, using a digital multi-meter measure the resistance from

the aluminum plate holding the module to battery (-). The net resistance must be less than 0.2 ohms. The net

resistance is the meter reading minus the resistance of the meter leads. If the net resistance is greater than 0.2 ohms

the source of the faulty ground must be found and fixed. Usually the source of the bad ground is easily found by

holding one probe on an original location and moving the second probe toward the static probe. Where the

resistance drops identifies the source.

Maximum Resistance from Ignitor plate to Battery (-) Terminal. 0.2 ohms

EXAMPLE:

Resistance from Ignitor Plate to Battery (-) Terminal. 0.4 ohms

Resistance of meter leads. 0.2 ohms

After subtracting meter lead resistance, your total resistance is: 0.2 ohms

VOLTAGE TEST

Minimum Maximum

Ignition Switch “ON”, Engine “off” 8.0V N/A

Engine Cranking 8.0V N/A

Engine Running N/A 16.0V

Voltage Test

•
Do not disconnect wires from ignition coil and place ignition switch in the off position.

•
Use jumper wire (With alligator clips on both ends)

•
Connect jumper wire from negative (-) side of coil to a good engine ground.

•
Connect volt meter red lead to positive (+) side of coil and black lead to engine ground.

•
Turn “ON” the ignition switch and note voltage reading. Quickly read voltage and turn ignition

“OFF”.
Leaving ignition switch “ON” could result in permanent damage.

•
See chart above for specifications.

Note: Low voltage can be caused by poor connections, poor contacts in the ignition switch, ballast

resistor, and or a resistance wire in the wiring harness (Factory Installed).

OTHER CHECKS

•
Check sticker on the backside of module "Ignitor by PerTronix" If the Sticker is shriveled up,

wrinkled, cracked, or if you see any burn marks on that side of module the unit over heated and

failed for various reasons.

•
If you’re using Part number 1281 or 91281 (only), make sure that module and magnet sleeve are

level with each other on top.