Atomic 4 Smells like Burning Plastic with Smoke

[appick]

Hey Beckettnole,
Nothing too embarrassing to admit there. There are honest boaters and then there are those that have never wrapped a line, bumped a dock, or run aground. If you sail long enough you'll end up doing most of those...

I have an A4 with an electric fuel pump although not the one Moyer sells. While working on the engine the other year I accidentally pulled the wire leads from the pump. Not wanting to uninstall the pump to see which lead was which (they are ambigous colors) I made a guess figuring I had a 50/50 chance of being right. I made the guess and lo and behold I had it wrong. The fuel pump really only likes to be run with the voltage going the right way! A bit of wiring and a new fuse holder, seeing as it didn't have one before, and a BIG fire extinguisher in the lazerette locker got me going again.

Look over the wiring for the engine, make sure the insulation is not brittle, cracked, or burned through. I agree with the others the plastic smell is a bad omen.

As for me I usually clean my carb at the beginning of every season. I have a new fuel tank and fitlers and it still gets crud in it. I may be a bit overly obsessed with this but I also had the float stick and dribble fuel out down there which is scary.

Make sure you don't have any electrical wires touching the hot elbow of the engine exhaust or anything like that. Good luck.

[appick]

Also if you don't already have the PCV kit from Indigo Electronics on there go a head and do yourself a favor and get one. By far the best $80 I've spent on my engine. I'm not a salesman just one very happy customer.

[beckettnole]

Ok so the coil was burning out because the alternator belt was loose....Fixed that and now she purrs like a kitten....the smoke/smell is definitely coming from the exhaust line. Mechanic believes it is from a spray someone used that got on the wrapping of the line and advised me to run it to see if it burns off.....I ran it for a couple hours and it's still doing it :-( Definitely do not buy a boat from David Willis in Huntington, NY as I asked him to have all this stuff ready to go.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by beckettnole

Anyone know what would cause a brand new coil to go bad?

Corroded wires and terminals to and from wouldn't help. I've run an Atomic 4 for 15 years and blown only one coil, and it gave me some warning it was going to fail. Luckily, they are still available...I think I paid $44.

Check obvious stuff like the wire loom touching the block. I secure mine to a cuphook on the inside of the companionway steps I also secure and cover with split-loom the wire going from the coil to the hourmeter, as it comes close to the mixing elbow.

[jeepbluetj]

I don't see how a loose alt belt could ever fry a coil, unless it physically hit it. But I don't know everything.

Coils fry because:

1. Too much heat
2. Too much heat
3. Too much heat
4. Age/Manufacturing defect (and some heat)

Coils get hot because:
1. Too much voltage
2. Too long energized - a coil is really an AC device, not a DC device.
a. Dwell too long
b. Ignition switch on with the points closed and the motor not running
3. Environmental heat (exhaust, etc) combined with 1 or 2.


What "the A4 expert" says:
Some Comments About Coils - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians

And a good discussion why coils burn out without a ballast resistor
Coil input information - Page 11 - Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians

The smoke after a new coil was installed makes me believe you have another (possibly serious) problem. I'd look at every inch of wiring in your engine compartment. Particularly the high-current ones like alternator output.

If it no longer smokes - you can feel the coil while running to get an idea of if it's hot or not.

The A4 really is a simple simple engine.

[beckettnole]

Update:

I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong.

The next mechanic in Atlantic City said the smoke is coming from my oil level being too full and it's burning off.

I put a new coil with a ballast resistor and she over heats.

I get about 6-8hrs from her at 50% throttle then she sputters and dies. She will turnover a couple times but then dies again after a few minutes.

I may have to bag the ICW trip and put her on a truck or maybe buy and mount an outboard.

Boat US is towing me and my lemon into Summit North now. I guess I'll have a mechanic take one more crack at it in the morning.

Any ideas and advice are welcome.


Warmest,

Ryan

[a64pilot]

If all that is wrong with it is ignition, that is real easy to fix, but I'd suggest a mechanic as It doesn't sound like your engine skills are up to snuff.
But a basic points and capacitor ignition system is real simple and not expensive to fix, worst thing could be bushing in your distributor could be worn, but even that is not hard to fix.
No way do you need to buy an outboard if its just ignition