I would look at the condensor in the distributor.
Ignition coil blows after 5 minute of run time.
My ignition coil on a points system was acting up, So i installed an Accel Super Coil (high resistance) with my existing Accel distributor (low Resistance). I did not wire in a resistor initially because I'm an idiot. The car didn't even try to start, the coil just died. I had another super coil, so I wired it in with the resistor, it also died immediately. I put the original coil back in, no resistor, it started, ran for 5 minutes, then sputtered, backfired, and stalled out. That coil fried. Tried another replacement coil. Same thing, ran for a few minutes, then dies unable to start again. So something is killing my ignition coils. My guess is the distributor. Anyone else have a thought of what would be frying coils like this? If the distributor does need replaced, would anyone suggest switching to and electronic ignition system? This is on a 1971 Chevy Nova with a 350.
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How many volts you got sitting on the positive side with the wire off? Yes, HEI or good aftermarket electronic ign.
How many volts you got sitting on the positive side with the wire off? Yes, HEI or good aftermarket electronic ign.
With wires off the coil, I have 12.8v on the positive side. When I have a good coil wired up its 12.6v with ignition on. With a bad coil wired in, and ignition on, it's about 4.2v. That's how I'm diagnosing the coils as bad.
With HEI should I stick with a well known brand name like MSD or Accel, or would a cheap eBay setup work alright?
I would look at the condensor in the distributor.
The condenser physically looks fine, but I don't know how to test its functionality.
Remove condener, use analog meter set to high resistance. One lead to wire other to body, watch needle. Should slowly go from high to low. If it stops in the middle its leaking. Or use a capacitance tester.
Are you mounting the coils verticle or horizontal? If the coils are oil filled and you mount them horizontal they tend to fry internally.
Can you explain how that method works?Remove condener, use analog meter set to high resistance. One lead to wire other to body, watch needle. Should slowly go from high to low. If it stops in the middle its leaking. Or use a capacitance tester.
If you were to measure a good charged capacitor (condenser) with an ohmmeter, I can see how the voltage would drop at first, because the condenser is charged to a higher voltage than the battery within the ohmmeter. But then I would expect it to stabilize somewhere because the ohmmeter is sourcing voltage (or current, depending on the type of meter) to the condenser. I would not expect it to drop to 0.
On a leaky condenser, I would expect the reading to drop to 0 because the meter cannot source enough current to keep voltage on the condenser. In a high resistance mode, the meter will source very little current which wouldn't sufficiently charge a leaky condenser. I think.
I'm new around here, but I have some electronics experience... or do I have my wires crossed?
http://m.wikihow.com/Check-a-Start-CapacitorCan you explain how that method works?
If you were to measure a good charged capacitor (condenser) with an ohmmeter, I can see how the voltage would drop at first, because the condenser is charged to a higher voltage than the battery within the ohmmeter. But then I would expect it to stabilize somewhere because the ohmmeter is sourcing voltage (or current, depending on the type of meter) to the condenser. I would not expect it to drop to 0.
On a leaky condenser, I would expect the reading to drop to 0 because the meter cannot source enough current to keep voltage on the condenser. In a high resistance mode, the meter will source very little current which wouldn't sufficiently charge a leaky condenser. I think.
I'm new around here, but I have some electronics experience... or do I have my wires crossed?
Are you mounting the coils verticle or horizontal? If the coils are oil filled and you mount them horizontal they tend to fry internally.
I've always mounted vertical. I'll try testing the condenser with a start capacitor tester. If it's bad I'll just get an HEI distributor. Even if it's not bad I'll still probably just swap for an HEI setup. My problem must have something to do with the distributor, I can't imagine it would be from anything else. I already tried a new ignition switch and starter solenoid with no better results.
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