emdoller

That would be nice!! Hope it solves the issue.

Ed

tbarb

If that replacement coil is a reproduction part you will be in for more troubles, go get a NAPA Ecklin 12 volt replacement coil and your good to go.

If it's a NOS 202 coil you will be fine, the old coil looks like the oil is long gone and it got hot. I have a 091 coil that looks like that and it does not make sparks correctly.

leif.anderson93

I understand when you speak of repro parts, but this was on my shelf and we'll see how it works out.

Nowhere Man

Did you old coil have a burnt electrical smell to it

leif.anderson93

It does not, Keith...no odor at all.

Tcheairs38655

Had the same problem with my Breakerless SE all of a sudden. The positive post of the coil was barely grounding out on the top shield cover. I insulated the the + post with a rubber vacuum plug and that solved the problem instantly.

raylag64

Had a 78 Monza that started when it wanted too. Factory HEI ignition. Found that if I bumped the top of the distributor with my fist while jumping out the starter solenoid with a screw driver it would start right up. Turns out the bushings in the distributor were too worn. New bushings and never had a problem again. I would think the same is possible with a magnetic pick up conversion.

cor66vette

In a way I envy your scenario, Leif. Yours will either start or not start, and you're still in your garage where you can trouble shoot while the problem exists, whereas mine starts, then might or might not crap out while driving and leave me stranded somewhere.

raylag64

Make sure the coil + and - connections are perpendicular to the center line of the car. If not, they can make contact with the shielding. First time I drove it from the house. Didn't get 200 feet. Took the shielding off and it stated right up. Noticed it right away and thought "OOPS!"

cor66vette

That was indeed an issue. So, I removed the shielding and it started right up. Thinking my problem was solved, and being all fat dumb and happy, I took a drive and came back on a flatbed. Needless to say I have another (intermittent) problem.

leif.anderson93

Today's update. The new coil has not resolved the issue. Issue continues as before. Car will crank but won't start. Then, after leaving it alone it will start on the first crank. Car runs and drives flawlessly after it starts. Twice this past week, after going for an hours drive, when I pulled back into the garage I would shut the car off. The first day it would start up immediately after shut off...several times. The second day after a beautiful drive, pull into garage, shut off the car and attempt to restart...cranks but not start.
Now today, went to the garage to go for and drive a she wouldn't start. I removed the plug wire from #1 and inserted an inline spark tester. The wife was home so I had her come out and crank the car so I could observe the tester...no surprise, no spark. Help me narrow this down before I start replacing parts. Again, so that no one needs to re-read this entire post, this car has all new wiring harness(s) five years ago. ALL connections at battery, ballast resister, coil, starter, etc are clean, tight and non-frayed. Coil primary is 1.3 ohm and secondary is 12400 ohms. Battery is fully charged and shows 13.4 volts. Where do I go from here. Obviously, this is driving me nuts!!!

Nowhere Man

a new set of points is 15 bucks and 20 mins of your time.

leif.anderson93

I hear you Keith and that may be the route I will pursue next just to eliminate the breakerless ignition. I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that it is only intermittent and when it does start it runs perfectly. I would think if the module were bad it would run poorly and cut out and leave me stranded.
But, again, if the consensus points to the points (no pun intended) then I will do that.

Nowhere Man

throwing parts at problems is a bad idea but with intermittent electronic problems that will drive you up a wall and make you bang your head trying to figure it out it will help you to keep it basic. and keep you sane

raylag64

Turn the coil 90* so there is no possibility of a short.

raylag64

With my Monza, It would also happen while cruizing down the highway.

raylag64

Have you checked to see if there is any play in the distributor shaft. Magnetic pickups are very sensitive to that, whereas points , not so much

leif.anderson93

The posts are parallel to the firewall...no issue there...no shorting.

LouieM

I once had the SE Breakerless in my 67 and twice it left me needing a tow home in a span of a few weeks. It started and ran perfectly all the rest of the time. Reinstalling the points solved the problem. You may have a different problem, so I'm just letting you know that the SE system can fail intermittently.

Lou

Frankie the Fink

I'm a big fan of the electronic conversions but throwing some points in there might not be a bad idea...

Here is the troubleshooting page on the Breakerless SE if you want to chase that some more before replacing:

http://www.breakerless.com/techhelp.htm

On my 61 there was a bad terminal lug on the ignition switch that would cause a non-start issue about 1 in 20 times and was the dickens to find. I wound up temporarily putting a blob of solder on the lug so it would make contact with the terminal on the dash harness effectively until I could replace the switch.

I'm also not entirely ready to exonerate the bulkhead connectors....that is not an optimal design and depends on constant pressure at a perfect angle for all those connectors to pass electricity through friction....they cause some bizarre problems at times..