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OMC Cobra 23 electronic ignition

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gagjag

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"I was having quite a few prob

"I was having quite a few problems with this 19.5 Bluefin aluminum bowrider this year. The 2.3 litre worked great above idle and gets up on the step with no problems, but at idle it would stutter and miss and sometimes die. At WOT I could hear popping sounds back through the carb. I cleaned the old gas out, changed the fuel/filter/water seperator cartridge, cleaned out the carb set the mixture screws and finally got it to idle somewhat better at around 700, but not real smooth. In the meantime I was waiting for the Pertronix electronic ignition conversion kit to get here. It came last week. I spent a few hours installing it and setting timing, etc. in my driveway. I just went for my first testdrive today. It's like I'm in a different boat. I stuck it in the water and it started right up sat there idling at 500 not too smooth, but not quitting. Backed her out and headed out, wouldn't stall. Hit the gas and it just sounded so smooooooth. Up on the step and WOT 38MPH no popping no nothing, just purring along. Best this boat has ever sounded!! Best $150CDN I ever spent! I bumped the idle back up to 700 and it's even smooth at idle now, it's been a short but damp summer up here on Lake Ontario, but this Labour Day Weekend has been the Best!!"
 
I was wondering where you got

I was wondering where you got your ignition kit? I'm not having any problems with my 2.3 right now but I'm always interested in inexpensive performance upgrades.
 
I ordered my kit through my lo

I ordered my kit through my local auto parts store. It's Pertronix part #9ML-141.It was $150.00CDN and the matching FlameThrower II coil was $40.00
 
"What kind of distributor do y

"What kind of distributor do you have is it mallory ys621cv or is it the yl? I tryed searching a kit for this ys distributor but couldn`t find any, but if you have the ys and it works like you posted then I`ll order a kit too. Did you do the omc "diode fix" or just ran the engine without it? Did you change the resister wire to ordinary so that the coil gets 12v?"
 
"Hi, I have a 1988 OMC Cobra 2

"Hi, I have a 1988 OMC Cobra 2.3 litre with a Mallory distributor part #YS621CV
Pertronix part #9ML-141 ignition conversion kit is the right one to fit it. I also used one of their Flame Thrower II coils with a direct connection to 12 volt and I used the diode fix too."
 
John! What part # is the flame

John! What part # is the flame thrower II you use? Do you use any resistor at all? An autoparts store told that the flame thrower II should be #45111 ??? Thanks for the previous advices.
 
"That part # is for the epoxy

"That part # is for the epoxy filled coil for high vibration, I don't thnk you would need that. I bought the plain black oil filled coil part#45011, you can also get a chrome oil filled one, part #45001 if you want.
No resistor at all, straight 12V from ignition."
 
"Hi again! John, did you have

"Hi again! John, did you have 3 gray wires to the negative side of the coil and 2 wires to the positive before the tune up? Is the 3:rd one for the tach maybe? I tryed to install the ignitor today and there is a play (gap) between the magnetic sleeve to the rotor so it allows the magnetic sleeve to go up and down, the gap is approx 4mm( 1/6"). Did you got a ring which comes with the 9ml-161 set to fill that gap, or do you have the gap?"
 
"Yes one of the 3 wires to the

"Yes one of the 3 wires to the negative side is the tach wire, you will have to determine which one. You will be running your own 12V supply to the positive side, so you can cut and cap the other 2 wires. If you are using an aftermarket rotor you will have a gap between the sleeve and the rotor. The kit doesn't supply one. I made one out of a piece of hard plastic tubing"
 
To the positive side comes 2 w

To the positive side comes 2 wires. 1 is the resistor wire (right) but what is the other one? One schematic what I got my hands on for a ford marine engine shows it goes/comes to the assist solenoid. What does it do? Do I need it?
Thanks again.
 
"The wire coming from the assi

"The wire coming from the assist solenoid supplies the coil with a full 12v during starting only, it drops off when the key goes from start to run. Once started then the resistor wire supplies a lower voltage to the coil."
 
So I can replace the 2 positiv

So I can replace the 2 positive side wires and put a single wire with 12v to the coil?
 
"Yes, just like I said, you ca

"Yes, just like I said, you can cut and cap the 2 wires. They will be replaced by a 12V wire that comes from a source that gives you 12V positive when your key is on. There is a terminal on your alternator that you can use if you want."
 
Okay the summer is here and I

Okay the summer is here and I started it up on the muffs and it ran great. Dropped the boat today and went out for a test ride. Started up great but when we drove it down the river with approx 1500-2000 rpm. it started to misfire. We drove the boat for about 30-40 min. on different rpm. but it just got worse. The voltmeter drops when it misfires. The sparkplugs are new and I checked them when we docked and they looked good. Where could I start to look for the problem? PLEASE HELP!!!
 
How did you get around the ESA

How did you get around the ESA problem? Did you do the diode fix or replace the ESA or ??? If you did the diode fix I would remove it and disconnect the ESA (2 wire plug purple/gray) and try it again.
 
Yes I did the diodefix because

Yes I did the diodefix because I got my hands on a new oem esa for a few bucks. I`ll try to disconnect the esa tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Does the magnetic sleeve have to be at the same height as the module itself (sleeve is about now 3mm lower)?
 
"Hi, does your rotor fit down

"Hi, does your rotor fit down tight to the magnetic sleeve? If you have an aftermarket rotor there will be a gap between the top of the sleeve and your rotor. You can't have that. You will have to make up a spacer to go between the sleeve and the rotor to keep the sleeve from moving up and down."
 
"I have an aftermarket rotor a

"I have an aftermarket rotor and I made a spacer out of teflon just to fill the gap (3.4mm). I was just thinking of making a new spacer under the magnetic sleeve so that it would line up to the same height as the module, now it is about 3mm lower."
 
"I'm getting my boat out t

"I'm getting my boat out today. I will look and see if mine is the same, I can't remember if I put the spacer under the sleeve or above it."
 
"I tested it again and now it`

"I tested it again and now it`s like yesterday, misfiring. I put a spacer under the magnetic sleeve but it didn`t help. I overrided the "esa" too but that didn`t help either. I decided that I put the point system back, and did that. Now I can`t get it started at all. I`M SO CONFUSED RIGHT NOW (little help from 12 bottles of beer)."
 
"I checked mine today, I start

"I checked mine today, I started it for the first time, and after a few cranks to get the fuel up to the carb it started right up and even though it was burning off the fog and the winter suspended time, it never stalled and soon as it started pumping water through properly, smooooothed right out. My spacer is just below the rotor and the magnetic ring isn't perfectly inline with the pickup. I think you should go back through your wiring. All it needs to run is 12v to the coil + and the red wire from the pickup, and ground to - coil and the black wire from the pickup. That should eliminate any thing that's making it miss."
 
"Hi there again. I maybe said

"Hi there again. I maybe said it wrong, I think I should say it`s missing spark once in awhile with the ignitor II. With the points I can`t get any spark at all. I get 12v to the positive side of the coil but as soon I mount it to the coil it drops to 6.5v. If I crank the engine it gets even lower. I tryed with a jumperwire from batt+ to coil+ with no better success. I use the resisterwire which is in the oem harness (0.9ohm). Could it be a bad battery or maybe a bad starter solenoid or...? Bob Hill, I tryed it with the esa disconnected with no help."
 
"Don't use the resistor wi

"Don't use the resistor wire! You have to run a new wire directly from a 12volt source. Like I said before, there is clean 12v source on the back of your alternator, that's what I used and it works fine."
 
"This story is kind of confusi

"This story is kind of confusing talking about the Pertronix and back to points, as John said you shouldn't be using the resistor wire with the Pertronix, only with the points, if you were using it with the Petronix then your symptoms are similar to those of low voltage. You need to do one or the other and let us know what you've done and what the symptoms are."
 
"When I had the pertronics ign

"When I had the pertronics ignition I used straight 12v to coil positive just like I`ve been told. When I got back to points I used the resistor wire. With the pertronics ignition it cut the ignition every 5 seconds so I got back to points to see if it would run, but no spark. All wiring was done like the instructions (pertronics). I put the points back and all the oem wires back like they used to be. It was fully functional last season wih points, but I wanted to upgrade to pertronics because I heard so much good things about it. Can I test the pertronics module with a multimeter or how do I know it`s okay? With my luck there is a failure in the module."
 
"No...there's no tests you

"No...there's no tests you can do for the module, it either works or it doesn't. That's why some guys will actually carry everything they need to convert back to points incase they're far offshore and it craps out on them. Best thing you can do is call Pertronix support (909 599 5955)or send them an email from
http://www.pertronix.com/support/contact/default.aspx
and tell them about your problem. As for the points, they are simple, possibly you had short inside the dist? When they are open there should be nothing to drag the 12v down."
 
"I know from experience with p

"I know from experience with points, that even if your battery has enough charge to roll your engine over, it might not have enough juice to give you enough spark to fire it."
 
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