That’s absolutely rotten! (not my first choice of words either!). Keep an eye Craig’s list and you may want to watch your local boat landings for a few weeks. Good Luck!

Thanks! You’ve confirmed what I just relearned. It has been many years since I worked on an ignition system with points, so I’ve been doing some reading…

Due to lousy weather here tonight we didn’t get a chance to try any of this, but I suspect the problem is in the wiring.

OOPS! I just noticed I typed the boat/motor year wrong. It is an ’89 not a ’98.

I used a point file right away. No luck. The coil was tested today and is good. My friend then purchased new points and condenser and tried putting them in himself. Still no spark, but he doesn’t think the points are set right. I am going over tomorrow to take another look. Does anyone know the proper sequence for setting the point gap (The gap measurement is on the motor)? It has been too many years since I set one up. What position do you have the crank/distributor in when setting the gap?

Another thing we noticed is there is only power to the “+” side of the coil while the engine is being cranked. Shouldn’t there be power here anytime the key is in the run position?

Props can be tricky without a tach. Finding a balance on your outboard for pulling and general fishing may be difficult without one. Remember the lower the pitch number, the more power you’ll have to pull. Problem is you will slow the top end speed AND increase your wide open throttle RPM (which could result in redlining the motor).

Mercury’s website does provide a prop pitch calculator. It will ask you to enter the weight of your boat, personal gear fuel and the motor. Don’t use the maximum possible weights. use the average (half of a tank of fuel, two passengers, not three). It will also ask you the type of use you have. From there it will recommend a prop.

You also should find the prop pitch you have now so you have a starting point. The pitch is usually inside the hub near the prop nut, or on the outside perimeter of the hub. 13 x 17P would be a 13″ diameter x 17 pitch prop.

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Did you change your location in map data to reflect northern MN? No contours and blocky is what you see unless it is changed.

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I honestly don’t recall which it was set on. I tried several regions (the best one actually wasn’t the most “logical” option. I am wondering if the newer chips are better.

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I have the Navionics chip and it has Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River on it. We fish the Winnepeg near Whitedog.

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Which Navionics chip do you have? I was just in Minaki and my chip had maps from lake of the woods to the inlet end of Rough Rock, but the quality of the maps were terrible. Shore contours were blocky and no depths. It is an older chip, so the newer versions may be better…

Thanks everyone.

That was the answer I was hoping not to here (but expecting it). I hate to run out and buy another battery to find I have the same problem. Under normal circumstances I use a Guest 3 bank charger. When I found one battery so much lower than the rest I pulled it from the boat and placed it on a different charger to make sure it was getting an adequate opportunity to charge.

If no one else has any tips on things that could be wired wrong, I’ll be purchasing a new battery.

Thanks for the response.