Glad I Had a Spare

[rgoff]

I took my first trip from Dana Point, CA to Catalina Island (34 nm) in many years. I let my 1973 Ericson 27 go down hill and am just now getting it back into cruising shape.

About 3 hours out the engine started missing. This got worse and it finally died about an hour later. Couldn't restart it.

Since I'd just put in a new gas tank and fuel filter assembly, I figured fuel wasn't a problem. I jiggled the spark plug and distributor wires with no effect. I then remembered I'd bought a new ignition coil last year and never put it on. I still had the 30+ year old original on. Put the new coil on and BINGO the engine started fine and ran great the remainder of the 8 hours I used it to get there and back.

The old coil was very hot when I replaced it and I'd read on this highly useful forum they sometimes fail when hot.

Now that my engine appears to be reliable again, I'm trying to squeeze in a few more trips before that cold, cold Southern California winter sets in. :)

[Marty Levenson]

Similar story for me. My coil was just over a year old (and I mounted it on the bulkhead, with a heatsink, for coolness). I first messed around with fuel filters for a while 'till I decided to put in the spare coil just to see. Problem solved.

Don - would electronic ignition be any easier on the coil? It seems odd that I needed to replace mine so soon.

Thanks,
Marty (Vancouver)

[Don Moyer]

Marty,

We have no evidence that electronic ignition increases coil life.

Don

[Marty Levenson]

Dear Don,

I think I asked the wrong question. I currently have points in my distributor. Could an incorrect dwell angle/time be shortening the life of my coils?

I'm a bit hazy on how the electronic ignition works: is there still a dwell adjustment if I switch over to that system?

Thanks again,
Marty (Vancouver)

[Don Moyer]

Marty,

If you've been following another thread in the Forum, you'll notice that we're trying to collect more data relating to the condition of coils, and then perhaps get a better understanding of why they sometimes fail prematurely. Our big problem is that we've had so few well documented coil failures within our own customer base that it's been difficult for us to draw reasonable conclusions.

I do recall one individual quite some time ago that had a few premature coil failures (one every year or so) in an early model engine, which we diagnosed as being caused by too much dwell. We discovered that the lobes were worn on his distributor rotor which did give him an unusually high dwell value (though I forget the actual numbers). He cured his problem by simply opening up the point setting until his dwell value came closer to the 34 degrees published for late model engines, at which time his premature coil
failures ceased.

With respect to your second question, I have to tread lightly because of my own limited grasp of the technical facts where electronic ignition systems are concerned. Electronic ignition systems do tend to have published dwell values somewhat higher than conventional points and condensers, which feeds the concern that electronic ignition systems cause more heat within the coil and hence, lead to an increase in premature coil failures. I can only say that we have no hard evidence of premature coil failures in the aftermath of an Ignitor installation. It's my own layman's understanding that electronic systems have the ability of "controlling" the voltage passing to the primary windings of the coil during the dwell time, which would explain why their higher dwell times do not negatively impact coil life (again, within our own customer base).

Don

[Davis Modlin]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before or not, But make sure that you use an INTERNAL resistor coil NOT an EXTERNAL resistor. If you use an external resistor the coil will over heat and break-down.

Davis
DMA4