Tech Tip-- for your safety
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Tech Tip-- for your safety
If you're fixing any wires around the HEI distributor and soldering them (the correct way), and you use a WELLER soldering gun, PLEASE make sure the key is OFF! The magnetic field around that soldering gun will cause the distributor to fire. If the key is on, and you're leaning over the fan/ alternator, if the engine is in the correct position to fire a cylinder, it could start. and leaning or laying on the fan will hurt..
Last edited by TimAT; May 12, 2007 at 04:56 PM.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 499
Likes: 1
From: Winnipeg Manitoba
Is this something you personally experienced, or heard on the net?
The magnetic field around a Weller soldering iron tip is very weak and I cant see how it could possibly couple enough energy into the secondary of the igniton coil to create a spark.
Sounds like an urban legend.
The magnetic field around a Weller soldering iron tip is very weak and I cant see how it could possibly couple enough energy into the secondary of the igniton coil to create a spark.
Sounds like an urban legend.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 499
Likes: 1
From: Winnipeg Manitoba
The pick-up sensor is a coil under the distributor about a mm from the magnet.
The soldering iron would have to be pretty close to that pick-up to have any effect.
Is it possible the soldering iron shorted something to ground which triggered the ignition?
The basic tip is good: Turn power off when soldering.
You could do something out that causes the engine to turn over.
The soldering iron would have to be pretty close to that pick-up to have any effect.
Is it possible the soldering iron shorted something to ground which triggered the ignition?
The basic tip is good: Turn power off when soldering.
You could do something out that causes the engine to turn over.
Last edited by Kilroy1024; May 12, 2007 at 07:17 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
NExt time you've got an HEI out on the bench, clamp the body in a vise, and hook it up- 12V and a ground. Then wave the soldering gun- Not an iron over the top of it. It will fire. Saw this happen at the GM training center in KC.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!
Joe Kucinski
10 Things C8 Corvette Owners Hate (But Won't Tell You)
Joe Kucinski
10 Best Corvettes Coming to Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach 2026!
Brett Foote
