Black pudding

[Robbie693]

...otherwise known as the bottom hose..

I fitted a new one and it is pressing against the coil. Is this going to cause problems with overheating the coil?

I can't see any other way to fit it - I trimmed a bit off the engine end which improved matters but, as you can see, it's not an ideal fit.

What does yours look like?

[billwill]

Can you move the coil higher up its clamp?

Though I doubt that 100 dec C will affect the coil much and it's pretty drafty in the engine compartment

My lower hose rubs on the steering column, which I thought might eventually lead to wearing through the hose, so I slipped a bit of thick polythene yellow pipe over that bit that rubs. It was a piece that workmen had left behind when fitting new gas pipes in the street. The poly still rubs on the steering column, but is of course much slipperier, so I do not expect that to wear.

[neilsjuke]

let the bottom clip of a bit and give the hose a twist.

[elan_fan]

your coil should be mounted at about a 45 degree angle half under the brake and clutch resevoirs, Check if the holes or the remnants are still there. If you leave the hose touching the coil you may get a mis fire when the car is good and hot on a hot day. Interstingly the manual states "Mount the coil in a VERTICAL position , irrespective of its position before removal". Col must have had a rethink after he drilled the holes in mine.

regards
Mark

[denicholls2]

First, the coil sits in a bath of oil. As the can is sealed at the top, the oil has a harder time finding its way out if the coil is mounted vertically. It shouldn't find its way out under normal conditions, but...

A shorted coil's mode of failure is explosion. Explosion typically results in the can's top removing itself violently. In the case I'm familiar with, I was sitting at a workbench opposite a Volvo coil (British Leyland, possibly the same as Elan) attached to a 12v electrical supply. The hotshot EE who owned the aging Volvo reasoned that carbon tracks in the bakelite on the top that were giving him starting problems in the wet Spring weather might get dried out with a dose of current.

A few minutes after he departed, the can's top departed as well. It embedded itself in the ceiling tile, and the oil went pretty much everywhere. As a bystander less than 6 feet from it, I can attest that the explosion was pretty impressive too.

Nobody hurt, luckily, and the EE's problem was solved with the required replacement coil. But possibly the safest place for one of these to go bang is up. Keeps it drier, too, so you don't have to play hotshot EE.

[Robbie693]

Sorry, I forgot to reply to this one what with the other troubles I now have (see other post).

I managed to get some clearance from the coil by cutting a bit off the rad end, doing a bit of twisting and moving the coil over slightly on the mounting bracket.

Thanks for the suggestions

Robbie