4 cyl volvo no spark

[FLXTroutman]

Hi, my brother has a 87 19' bayliner capri with a 4 cyl volvo penta, he is planning on visiting this weekend and trailering his boat to Canandaigua. Problem is no spark, the engine turns over fine, but no spark at plugs, or cap or rotor, he also replaced the coil, still no spark, he said wires look brand new, any advice?? He is mechanically inclined but is stumped, what is he missing. This is the first time he has tried to run the engine this year, ran good last year before winterization.

[rustyrat]

Sounds like the distributor (not the cap) to me. Happened to me 2 years ago. I had to have mine replaced with electronic ignition. Ran a lot better after that for sure. Are all the wires correctly hooked up to the battery?

RR

[muskybob]

Make sure the points aren't "fused' together.

[Yankee Troller]

Get a hold of Hank or at L&M and pick his brain. Hes got a chit load of experience fixin boats.

[LongLine]

Gear on bottom of distributor may have lost a tooth & the timing is way out of whack? I'd remove distributor cap then crank the engine to make sure distributor turns first then pull the distributor & check out that cheap nylon gear. (Check manual first before pulling distributor. As I remember one of the cylinders has to be in a certain stroke & the rotor has to point someplace when you reassemble it.)

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[rustyrat]

In other words, Take it a boat mechanic! Good luck.

RR

[seasquirrel]

If it has points and is turning over but no spark, I would then file the points with a couple of swipes with your wife/girlfriends emery board to then see if you have spark. If you do, I would still replace the points. I would also replace the distributor cap. Make sure they are marine points. If you still have no spark take it to a marine mechanic.

[L&M]

If I had to guess with out looking at it the points are oxidized as was stated above. Not so sure about the nail file deal. But that would work too if she uses them. Run a piece of fine emery or sand paper thu them when the are closed, and it will probably take care of it, or replace the point's. It's a common problem after setting over the winter.

[FLXTroutman]

Thank you all for so many responses I sent him a link to the discussion and he is trying to figure it out, I'll keep you posted.