ignition coil

[Guest kylerichardbutler]

I posted earlier about an ongoing problem with my 74' 260Z. And being the weekend I have been puring over my Z trying to figure out why it is hesitating. In doing so I have found two things. The first was I think I had the condenser hooked up to the distributor wrong but I am not sure because the picture is not to clear. from what I can tell it shows that it is hooked up to the neg side of the coil and I had it hooked up to the pos. The second thing is since I was checking around the coil I did a resistance test on the coil and found that it was at .6-.8 ohms varying up and down and the specs say it is saposed to be at .45-.55 ohms. So I now know that the coil is bad. does anyone out there know if this could cause the hesitation that I am experiencing. does anyone know anything about condensers.

 

P.S. If anyone knows a good place to purchase Z parts online please let me know.

[zcarnut]

A “condenser†is actually a capacitor and this particular one functions as radio frequency (RF) bypass capacitor. It should connect to the positive side of the coil (the side that is connected to the ballast resistor). The negative side of the coil should go to the distributor. Connecting the capacitor to the negative side of the coil will result in a poor spark and can even damage the capacitor (you may have exceeded its rated voltage).

 

Do not take your coil resistance measurements as proof positive that your coil is bad. The resistance in your meter probe leads can result in a higher than actual reading on your meter. The coil resistance is also a function of temperature. Making accurate resistance measurements of less than one ohm requires a specialized meter (a four-wire ohmmeter).

 

The best way to confirm a “bad†coil is replacing it with a known good one. The replacement can even be a used one.