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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / coil/condenser

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Posted By Discussion Topic: coil/condenser -- page: 1 2 3     40guy 06-18-2011 @ 7:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 270 Joined: Oct 2009 My 40' quit on me today in the heat. I took a plug wire loose and had no spark. After it cooled off a while, it started right up and ran fine. Is there away to check the coil and condenser with a meter to see if they are bad or going bad? trjford8 06-18-2011 @ 8:31 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4232 Joined: Oct 2009 You have the classic signs of a bad coil. If it's an original coil it needs to be rebuilt. Send it to Skip for a rebuild, you'll be glad you did. 40guy 06-18-2011 @ 8:44 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 270 Joined: Oct 2009 Yes I feel Skip will be recieving mail from me soon. The coil was rebuilt years ago by someone else. Do you know if Skip has the correct condenser? trjford8 06-19-2011 @ 6:58 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4232 Joined: Oct 2009 He should have the correct condensor. 40 Coupe 06-19-2011 @ 7:23 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1683 Joined: Oct 2009 If you have had the coil rebuilt, the symptoms are classic of both the coil and the condenser. Order in a NAPA FA49 and put it in before sending your rebuilt coil out for another rebuild. supereal 06-19-2011 @ 10:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Some of the "rebuild" years ago consisted of opening the coil case and pouring in an insulating compound, such as epoxy. In some cases, it worked well. in others, where the insulation between the winding was breached, it resulted in poor performance. The continuity of the windings can be checked with an ohmeter, as can the condenser. The primary winding of the coil will measure between .47 to .51 ohms at room temperature. The secondary, 5800 phms. This only tells you is the windings are not broken, but not the condition of the dilectric. The condenser can be checked with the same meter. With the meter set on high opms, touch the leads across the condenser, then revererse them. The needle should jump if it is OK. If it doesn't, the condenser is open. If the needle swings over, and stays, the condenser is shorted. Both coil and condenser are heat sensitive, with resistance rising, and output falling as the temp goes up. swmddo 06-20-2011 @ 6:43 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 111 Joined: Oct 2009 I, too, am now having trouble with either the coil or dist. I performed the steps Bob indicated, checking the ohms across the capacitor, and it did what it was supposed to. Hooking the ohm meter to the wire going to the distributor and the other to ground, the resistance went up when I cranked it, but not back down..probably a points problem, eh? With everything hooked up, there was no spark from the high tension wire from the coil. The voltage across the coil, with ignition on, was 5.86V, and when I cranked it, it went to 4.3V. Perhaps I have multiple problems: points not closing and bad coil? Thanks Steve supereal 06-20-2011 @ 8:56 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 You check the coil with it disconnected from the system. A resistance test will only confirm if the winding is intact, not if the insulation has been breached. Remember that the primary and secondary windings are joined at the input terminal when you hook up your meter. If you check voltage with the coil installed, you should read about 3.5 volts with the points closed, and battery, about 6.5-7 when the points open. As your closed reading seems a bit high, I'd check the resistor under the dash and see what the output voltage is with the points closed. As for coils, we just send them out to be rebuilt, as 99+% of original coils will not function properly. swmddo 06-20-2011 @ 9:08 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 111 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks. This coil is not original, after-market, tubular,"no external resistance needed"... The resistance I checked was with it out in my hands. This coil has been out of the car for 6 months, as I was rebuilding the engine. Never had problems with it before, but... I didn't mess with the distributor, but perhaps I need to do a bit more diagnosing of that...downside is that for this '48, I have to almost remove the fan assembly to get to it...:-( Steve supereal 06-20-2011 @ 9:49 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 If you are using a modern tubular coil, you need to bypass the resistor under the dash because the modern coil has a built in resistor. Removing the fan is always the best way to get at the distributor. If you have ignition problems after a long period of disuse, I'd pull the distributor and replace the points, as they can oxidize if well worn. If you have a place to have it set up by machine, that is best. Your distributor has two set of points, and it isn't unusual to find one set in bad shape, particularly if the condenser is old. Be sure to buy good quality point sets. The market is full of very poor foreign made sets with soft rubbing blocks, weak springs, and poorly threaded terminals. Ask when you buy whether the points are of good quality. If you see signs of wear or burning, also replace the rotor and inner cap.

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