So, I picked up an old Glastron with a Mercury 500 50HP outboard on it. It needed some work, but it seemed like a fun project, and it has been, but I've run into a wall, and am hoping someone here can help me keep this project alive.
I am getting no spark.
I previously got spark, but as I was looking things over, I noticed the distributor cap was rotting away. The plastic on the rotor was in bad shape as well, so I searched and found replacement parts and got them swapped out. All the part numbers match the catalog I find in marineengine.com, so at least to the extent that I can trust those, I have the 'rights' parts.
I'm concerned though, as the metal disc, on the rotor (not sure the actual name) is different on my replacement part than what I took out. The holes in the new part are much wider than the narrow slits which were found on the original one. I presume this may be part of my problem, but no amount of searching has turned up a part that looks like what I had originally. The original one disintegrated in my hands when I took it out, so it can't be reused.
Again, my new parts, appear to be correct, or at least match the part numbers I think I need, but something isn't right as this engine was running previously.
Has anyone encountered this discrepancy in parts before? Is this an updated part that 'should' work, even though if differs from the original? If so, any suggestions on what may lead to a complete lack of spark? I've run every test I can think of, and am lost.
I am getting no spark.
I previously got spark, but as I was looking things over, I noticed the distributor cap was rotting away. The plastic on the rotor was in bad shape as well, so I searched and found replacement parts and got them swapped out. All the part numbers match the catalog I find in marineengine.com, so at least to the extent that I can trust those, I have the 'rights' parts.
I'm concerned though, as the metal disc, on the rotor (not sure the actual name) is different on my replacement part than what I took out. The holes in the new part are much wider than the narrow slits which were found on the original one. I presume this may be part of my problem, but no amount of searching has turned up a part that looks like what I had originally. The original one disintegrated in my hands when I took it out, so it can't be reused.
Again, my new parts, appear to be correct, or at least match the part numbers I think I need, but something isn't right as this engine was running previously.
Has anyone encountered this discrepancy in parts before? Is this an updated part that 'should' work, even though if differs from the original? If so, any suggestions on what may lead to a complete lack of spark? I've run every test I can think of, and am lost.