My ignition is dying

[rgh0]

Matt

Operating temperatures of coils seem to vary a lot depending on make and location in the engine bay. They will also get hot if the ignition is left on with the distributor points or electronics sending a continuous current through the coil.

If the coil is "warm" in normal use say 40 to 50C then no problems and that is where the Bosch red sports coils in my Lotus run. If its to hot to continuously touch - say above 60C then you may have problems at least with these coils. Not certain but worth questioning and long term its not doing the insulation in the coil any good if it runs that hot.

However coils can take a lot of abuse and survive. The coil on my XJ6 Jag is bolted to the top of the engine by the cam cover. Its heated to 90C by the engine, jammed between the engine and the insulated bonnet so it gets no cooling air flow and subject to all the engine vibration. Dont know why they put it there but it seems to survive !. I just changed it for a new one after more than 300,000 km's not because of any problems but just because it looked bad.


Best to know how hot your coil runs when everything is normal and then if it changes you know you may have a problem.

regards
Rohan

[steveww]

Thanks Steve.

Was it easy to fit and set the timing?


Regards,

Hamish.

Yes. The old points and condensor were unscrewed and the Lumention srewed in. This is all best done with the dizzy on the bench. Slotted the dizzy back in and set the static timing as I would do normally.