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| [GMCnet] Non-GMC but a good thing to know [message #174051] |
Wed, 20 June 2012 11:39  |
Ray Erspamer
Messages: 1707
Registered: May 2007
Location: Milwaukee Wisconsin
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Good Morning
I've been talking off-line with Steve Southworth about an electrical problem I
had with my boat and by accident or luck I figured out the problem, he thought
it would be a good thing to share with the GMC group.
I have a 1990 Four Winns boat with a Ford 302 V8.
Two years ago I began having very erratic engine electrical problems:
1 - On hard acceleration out of the hole, total bog down, no power. Once the
boat planed and the demand for max power was reduced, boat ran good.
2 - When going down the lake full speed, I would hit the engine trim button to
raise or lower the stern drive, total engine stall like the trim motor was
using 100% of the electrical power.
I researched all of the online boat help sites & forums. Many people that
have the Ford 302 V-8 with the OMC out drive have experienced the exact same
problem as I had. No solutions posted, lots of ideas, but no dead solution. I
brought the boat in to a local automotive electrical shop owned by a friend,
they messed with it for a solid week, had no idea what was wrong. So for the
last 2 years we've boated, it's run like crap.
Two weeks ago, I decided to tackle this, at the same time I decided to give the
engine another tune up....points, condenser, cap, rotor, etc.
First thing I did was what most of the online forums recommended, check all
battery cables, ground cables, all wiring, etc., looking for corrosion. All
wiring looked perfect.
The next thing I did was do the tune up, put in the points and condenser. I
then hooked up the dwell meter to set the dwell, positive cable of meter to
coil, negative cable to the distributor. Meter didn't read a thing. I'm
thinking that it's been awhile since I've worked on these old style ignitions
and wondered if I had the meter hooked up right, tried it again, no reading.
I went and got a different meter, hooked it up, no reading. Now I was totally
confused.
Took a break for lunch.
Came back, try again, hook the meter up, positive lead to coil, negative lead
to engine carb bolt, meter worked perfect, I started to set the dwell and my
brain clicked.....WHY WOULDN'T THE METER WORK WHEN THE GROUND WAS CONNECTED UP
TO THE DISTRIBUTOR but it works when connected up to the carb ?? Tried it
again on the distributor, meter did not work. DANG, the light went on, 22 year
old boat, always moisture in engine compartment, corrosion ?? Then I
remembered when I installed Dick Paterson's Springfield Ignition in the GMC, he
supplied it with a separate ground wire connected to the distributor housing
and instructions said to connect that wire to a good engine ground. So I
drilled and taped the boats distributor housing, ran a wire from that to the
engine so I had a rock solid ground. Meter now worked when negative wire was
connected to the distributor. I set the dwell, set the timing and we hit the
water.
That boat ran better than it's run the last 5 years !!! Ultra power out of the
hole, no stalling when screaming down the lake when you hit the engine
trim.......all because of a poor distributor ground !!!
I later went to every online boating forum site and posted my findings !
Gotta luv it when ya stumble onto the dead nuts problem and it's a simple fix
!
Ray
Ray & Lisa
78 Royale "Great Lakes Eagle"
Center Kitchen TZE368V101144
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin 53226
Email: 78GMC-Royale@att.net
414-745-3188
Web Site: http://ray-lisa.page.tl/
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Ray Erspamer
78 GMC Royale Center Kitchen
403, 3.70 Final Drive
Holley Sniper Quadrajet EFI System,
Holley Hyperspark Ignition System
414-484-9431
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