No Start, 1988 Bayliner inboard - Turns over but, will not start up, any ideas??

I am currently working on an inboard ford 2.3 liter motor, with the omc outdrive. My customer was having the boat serviced by another mechanic for the past several years, and now the mechanic has shut down his shop, and I have inherited some issues.
The motor was winterized, and the two wing nuts were removed as well as 2 allen head plugs, I have found the location for the one allen head plug and the two wing cock pits but both were on the driver engine side. I have not found the location for the 2nd allen head plug and have looked everywhere on the engine but, no luck it must be hidden or its possible its an extra plug and not needed.
The problem the boat is having is it will not start, it is getting fuel, and it is getting spark now, I have replaced the condensor in the distributor, cleaned all points, checked all wiring, but still nothing.
I assume that either the other plug that Im not able to find its location is causing a no compression issue in the motor block, or there is another issue somewhere I cant track down. The killyard switch was bypassed by the previous mechanic and is not in use, the overdrive switch on the motor was removed as well. The ground wire seems to be getting very hot when tring to crank the motor over but, I have not replaced it yet, I do plan to as it is possibly corroded inside the plastic housing.
My main question is - does the passenger side of the motor have any drain spots as I cant see around the block very well to check, also would there be a crank but no start effect from the ground wire as I do get a spark from the coil and plugs.
The reason Im having issues is the mechanic before, did a lot of bypassing, and the motor does not appear to have ever had a tune up done - Wires, coil, condensor, plugs, have been replaced at this point. Any help on the location of the drain plugs on this block would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance.

is the old mechanic still around. If so ask him. If not I am d-m sure you came to the right place

wizard said:

is the old mechanic still around. If so ask him. If not I am d-m sure you came to the right place

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No, the old mechanic has closed up shop, and have no idea of how to reach him. I have searched the engine over and no luck finding the second drain plug port so I am fairly sure that it was an extra plug, but I am getting a hot ground wire when trying to start the engine. Is this a most likely cause of a bad ground wire or, a short somewhere in the system?

start with a compression test - timing belt might have jumped a tooth -how old is the belt?

Focus on getting it started and running. You can fire it up for a few seconds w/out water if the sea water pump impeller is removed.
Once you get it running and on water....... you'll find out if you've forgotten an engine drain plug.

Is this engine using a "start-by-pass" circuit? If so, is it working correctly?

What color is the spark that you are seeing?
White-ish blue... or yellow-ish?
If yellow-ish, this is a weak spark. You should be seeing a white-ish blue spark, and it should give an audiable snap/crack.



.

Ok, I have got the boat started but, it will not stay running if you drop it down to neutral position. Once it dies it dont want to restart, there was a small backfire in the carb. while trying to start the motor, I know I should have had the spark arrester on but, at this time I didnt. I find that the motor is running rough at idle speed but, clears up once its throttled up a bit, Im assumming that it maybe the low or mid jet thats corroded and maybe causing the issue but, it could also be experiencing a spark problem as well being a 4 cylinder motor it must be getting spark but, maybe still weak.
This is what I have done so far - Compression tested ok, Spark test is yellowish white color from the coil itself, I have replaced the ground cable and installed a 2ga ground wire, I have replaced the condensor inside the distributor cap, I cleaned all points inside cap and at the points, I full charged the battery, I put new plugs in, I disconnected the tach meter incase it was shorting out the spark.
I will have to order new plug wires as they are not stock item on this motor, nor is the points in the distributor, but the points look to be good, the shift assist switch was not mounted only hanging on the motor, and the killyard was bypassed by grounding both wires together and to a nut under dash.
It also has a phone line running as the ignition power wire but, seems to be working for its purpose for now, I will work out the smaller bugs once the bigger ones are fixed.
My question is could something be causing intermitted spark issue other than a bad coil or condenser or points, as when I can get it running it runs good with a small amount of throttle but, dies once I bring it back to neutral as if the fuel/air maybe a bit off of adjustment. Its one of those issues that could have so many directions to go, and Im just not sure which direction to start in - as if there was no spark it wouldnt start, and if no gas then the same, but its down to carb issue im affraid. but would like to ask for any other suggestions to try before going through that.

RicardoMarine said:

Focus on getting it started and running. You can fire it up for a few seconds w/out water if the sea water pump impeller is removed.
Once you get it running and on water....... you'll find out if you've forgotten an engine drain plug.

Is this engine using a "start-by-pass" circuit? If so, is it working correctly?

What color is the spark that you are seeing?
White-ish blue... or yellow-ish?
If yellow-ish, this is a weak spark. You should be seeing a white-ish blue spark, and it should give an audiable snap/crack.



.

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Does this engine have an ignition module? I had a 2.3 L '84 mustang that wouldn't keep running, but when I replaced the module it did the trick.

MobileMarine said:

the killyard was bypassed by grounding both wires together and to a nut under dash.

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that circuit is on the 12V + , if someone grounded it, they created a dead short from + to -

I agree but, the boat will start up and run is the strange part. What they did was make a continus circuit as if the lanyard was always on, why they attached it to a nut under dash is confusing to me as well but, it dont effect the boat from starting up and running.
I normally test everything then start replacing parts as needed, but in this case everything was bad so, I had to start replacing parts all over the place. Imagine someone shows up with a boat and says it ran fine last summer, now it wont start, the mechanic I normally bring it to has gone out of business and is no longer there.
You take the boat in, and your first looking at fuel pump throttle and it squirts out fine, then you check spark and have none at the end of the plug wires, this could mean 2 things bad coil or short out in the system weather its a bad tach meter or, killyard switch, or anything in between. So you disconnect the tach from the coil and you get a small spark, then you test spark directly from the distributor output, still weak, speratic spark. Then you replace the coil and retest you get a better spark, so you test on the other side of the plug wires not good cant see one but hear one, so you open up the distributor, clean the points, replace the condensor, make sure nothings grounding out inside it, then retest still weak, the plugs are old, so you go ahead and replace them, you get it to fire up but, sluggishly, after a few attempts it starts right up and will run on idle fine no issues, once you give a small throttle it dies out.
So, now im drawling strawls on what next while im waiting on plug wires as I feel this maybe the issue but, I want to make sure Im not overlooking anything while Im having to wait for them. The owner is clueless to what has been done previous to the boat, he has no clue of anything that the other mechanic has done to it the only thing he knows is it ran fine before he put it up for the winter now it wouldnt start for him, and wont stay running for me.
LOL its got no new parts anywhere so, what was the mechanic working on before to keep it going for him, also the only thing that looks to be new is timing belt, but if it was changed just for rutine maintance then why wasnt the spark plugs or wires ever changed out? Regardless its running now just not great, Im hoping the plug wires finishes it off, but I will let you know what happens once they arrive. Mean while if there is anything anyone can think of that would also be causing this I would be glad to try it while im waiting on wires. Thanks to all that has offered suggestions I have been able to test and check out a few items I wouldn't have thought about.

Did you check the distirbutor cap and components for any cracks?

Yes, I didnt find any cracks on cap, I replaced all components in the cap as well, the cap believe it or not is unavailable anywhere its been discontinued. So his next step is to convert over to electronic distributor, and ECM conversion. But for now the caps in good shape, and internal parts were available so I did swap all out inside, and nothings grounding out in there made sure of that.

hello my name is rubn i have a 1986 bayliner penta volvo & i dont get spark if you can help i will really apreciate thanks

bayliner1986 said:

hello my name is rubn i have a 1986 bayliner penta volvo & i dont get spark if you can help i will really apreciate thanks

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Ayuh,.... Start a new thread of yer own, so folks can find yer question, insteada hy-jackin' this one 12 posts in,.....