Fried ignition coil
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 77
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From: Mesa Az
Fried ignition coil
I went for an afternoon drive yesterday and leaving the neighborhood my '86 died and wouldn't restart. (She's never done that) Got her towed back to the house and while trying to start her in the garage the ignition coil smoked big time. I just got back from the parts store with a new one but before I install it, I want to be sure it doesn't happen again. Is there a potential cause for it to fry in the first place? Or is it possible that it was just old and it's time was up? 
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2011
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You talking about the big coil on top of the cap?
no moving parts, nothing to wear out, no way to ruin itself outside of a direct short somewhere that caused it to be unable to discharge the current that was passing thru.
Take a close look at the wires leading to the dist, especially the plug-in that has the battery wire. Pull the coil off and look at the connector tangs that are the blades that the plug grabs when in place. They made be crimped on. Others come separate, others loose. There will be a ground tang also that sits under the coil and runs over to a corner.
Your HEI can generate 40,000V on a good day....thats low amperage of course but its enough to melt some plastic. If the coil was shorted or not making a good connection, its possible that heat built up and just melted the plastic insulation on either the copper wire winding or the coil itself. A new dist cap would be a good idea too.
IF you do have damaged or broken tangs, I think the "help" section of generic parts will have those. As the zit farmer at the auto parts store behind the counter...he'll know exactly where to look.
no moving parts, nothing to wear out, no way to ruin itself outside of a direct short somewhere that caused it to be unable to discharge the current that was passing thru.
Take a close look at the wires leading to the dist, especially the plug-in that has the battery wire. Pull the coil off and look at the connector tangs that are the blades that the plug grabs when in place. They made be crimped on. Others come separate, others loose. There will be a ground tang also that sits under the coil and runs over to a corner.
Your HEI can generate 40,000V on a good day....thats low amperage of course but its enough to melt some plastic. If the coil was shorted or not making a good connection, its possible that heat built up and just melted the plastic insulation on either the copper wire winding or the coil itself. A new dist cap would be a good idea too.
IF you do have damaged or broken tangs, I think the "help" section of generic parts will have those. As the zit farmer at the auto parts store behind the counter...he'll know exactly where to look.
