Prestolite distributor

[pschauss]

The distributor on my port engine has a label which says:

Marine SAE - J1171
prestolite
IDU 7801BS 26MAR04

From the way it looks inside (see picture below) it appears to be a self contained electronic distributor rather than an electronic retrofit like I have on the Mallory distributor on my starboard engine. Is this correct? Are replacement parts available if the electronic module fails?

I did a google search on the part number but the only things which come up are the Pertronix kits and the pictures do not look at all like what I see when I pull the cap.

http://www.ipernity.com/doc/307687/47538606

thanks,

[Tony Meola]

http://www.hot-spark.com/1-Autolite-Pre ... butors.htm

https://www.hot-spark.com/1-Hot-Spark-M ... nition.htm

Peter

Try these guys. I bet you are looking at a conversion kit. Not a prestolite original.

I would call these guys. Reading through there site there is ss lot of info. Read every thing in both links it is pretty extensive. I bet if you called them they can help you.

[pschauss]

Tony,

Thanks for the links. Right now this engine is working ok although I have had it stall unexpectedly a few times while underway.

Two things led me to think that this distributor was originally electronic and not a conversion:
- The cam as shown in my picture has teeth instead of the usual lobes
- When I looked up the part number on a couple of websites like Sierra they only list part numbers for the cap and rotor, nothing for points and condenser or tuneup kit.

[Rawleigh]

I think the "teeth" are called a reluctor and are electronic sensors that fire the electronic ignition, like a contacless point.

[Tony Meola]

Peter

I would think they would sell replacement parts for guts of the system also. Are you sure you have the right part number?

[Pete Fallon]

Peter Schauss,
Looking at you picture of the distributor with the cap off, I noticed that the wire connectors on the coil are automotive style , I would change them to heat shrinked epoxy filled marine style connectors. I say this because the moisture will get into the open end of the yellow connectors, water will work it's way to the positive and negative posts and you will loose a good electrical pathway and it will corrode very quickly. I have found that over the years the auto style lug and butt connectors contribute to half the electrical problems on a boats electrical systems.
I looked thru your web photos there are some great shots of old vessels in Maine and New York, old Garvey's , Richardson's and commercial vessels brought back a lot of memories from years past. Also pictures of the engine box with a lot of automotive style connectors(yellow connectors) on the junction strip on the bulkhead that will give you problems down the road. Hate being picky but that's my job as a marine surveyor and former boat builder.
Pete Fallon

[pschauss]

Pete,

Thanks for pointing out the issue with the automotive type connectors. I noticed that when I swapped the coils to see if that was the causing the starboard engine to stall out. At that time, I checked to see that the crimp connections were not loose and left them alone. The yellow connectors on the connection strips looked so consistent that I assumed that they were done when the boat was built. Is that likely?

Thanks also for your comments on my pictures. One of my other hobbies is old cameras and black and white film. There is a boat yard near me in West Sayville which works on the local commercial fishing boats and the party/open boats which operate out of the marina at Captree. They always have some interesting boats in there.

[Tony Meola]

Peter

The crimping in the picture you posted here is not factory. If the others look like these, then plan on changing them. Not hard to do as long as they left enough wire. Try not to splice the wire to make it longer.