Home Forum Ask A Member sea king ignition

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  • #162494
    wrenchero
    Participant

      US Member - 2 Years

      hello, my friend just picked up a 1948 sea king 5hp.it has no spark. are there any common problems with these ignition systems.is there a way to test the coils.thanks

      mn

      #162554
      frankr
      Participant

        US Member

        Those coils were made before OMC learned how to make coils that self destruct and were near-bulletproof. 90% of the no-spark problems are due to dirty/corroded breaker points and they are difficult to clean in place. Take them completely apart, degrease everything, and polish each contact individually. Reassemble and set gap to .020″. I’ll bet you will have fire.

        Be careful not to lose any of the bitty insulators, etc. Do one set at a time so you have a sample of how they go together.

        #162578
        Mumbles
        Participant

          Does your mag look like this one?

          IMGP1396

          It should and removing the gas tank first will make it easier to work on the mag. You can check the coils with an ohmmeter and the primary side, the two loose wires, should read really low, around one ohm. Connecting the meter to the secondary winding, the spark plug terminal and one of the wires, should give a reading around 3.5 thousand ohms. The secondaries can read a bit higher or lower and still work fine. While the ohmmeter is out, take a reading of each spark plug wire from the plugs terminal to the terminal on the coil. Again, the reading should be really low.

          In this batch of coils, only half of them were any good. That is uncommon.

          IMGP0488

          As stated, work on one set of points at a time so you don’t get the parts mixed up. All of the brass parts should be degreased and polished to remove any tarnish. They have to have continuity between them and if they aren’t clean, chances are they wont work. The points can be cleaned and polished with wet n dry paper. 400 – 600 grit will remove any pitting or oxidation and finishing with finer grades up to 1500 or 2000 will put a mirror finish on them. The original condensers were rated at 0.16 – 0.24 uF so they should be tested or replaced if in doubt.

          When installing the points, make sure the rounded end of the plunger rod goes towards the points with the square end towards the crankshaft.

          IMGP0336

          If you remove the coils, they will have to be gapped to the rotor magnet using these instructions.

          TD-TN-Coil-Adjust

          • This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Mumbles.
          • This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Mumbles.
          #162762
          wrenchero
          Participant

            US Member - 2 Years

            thanks for the great info.my friend is going to bring it over on sunday so we can check it out

            mn

            #164140
            wrenchero
            Participant

              US Member - 2 Years

              my friend brought the engine over and we found out that he had one bad coil and one bad condenser.he got a new coil and 2 new condensers.it has great spark and he got it started.he is trying to figure out the mixture adjustments now but its running hot so i am starting a new post.thanks again

              mn

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