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| Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scituate, MA 
					Posts: 1,301
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				Electrical - Ignition Coil questions
			 
			Yesterday, some of the areas best and brightest worked on getting my car back together.  Not me, I just stood there basically with thumb up bum.  Anyways, after running all types of fuel related tests, the guys have a strong feeling my issue is electrical.  Unfortunately, rain slowed us down considerably so we could not test any further.   Currently the car runs terribly at idle. It runs at really low RPM's, say 500 and then loads up to where it backfires. At high RPM's it sounds strong. They brought it up to 6000 rpms while doing the timing and it sounded good. The culprit everyone seems to think is my Permatune. I am thinking that before I send out or even go to the trouble of pulling out the unit and trying another, maybe the ignition coil is just showing signs of age. It is not that old but where I only paid like $20 for it, I am thinking the quality might be questionable. I have had trouble in the past where the coil was the culprit. Maybe the Permatune ate up another one. My questions are: Can coils kind of work, like not be totally broken? If so, what could be the results of a bad coil? Thanks, David | ||
|  08-15-2005, 07:30 AM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Maitland, Florida 
					Posts: 892
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			Are the plug wires on correctly? Jerry Kroeger 
				__________________ 82 911SC Targa (05 Boxster S ) gone, but not forgotten 87 Suzuki GSXR-1100 1953 MG TD Mk II | ||
|  08-15-2005, 08:47 AM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scituate, MA 
					Posts: 1,301
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			Yes.
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|  08-15-2005, 08:50 AM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Greater Metropolitan Nimrod, Oregun 
					Posts: 10,040
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			yes they can - coils are inductors - could cause less spark - fix = new coil; test = new coil (usually) BTW - do not lick thumb 
				__________________ "A man with his priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile." - Ferris Bueller's Day Off | ||
|  08-15-2005, 12:59 PM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Long Beach CA, the sewer by the sea. 
					Posts: 37,840
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				RE: Thumb up bum
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|  08-15-2005, 03:35 PM | 
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			David, Is there any leaking 'goo' evident on the coil? Yes, coils can be intermittent while testing good with an Ohmmeter. Sometimes temperature in the engine compartment is a factor. The best test is to put the ignition system on an old Sun Analyzer [or equivalent] and look for variations or a general decline in output -- when the 'loading up' occurs. 
				__________________ Warren Hall, Jr. 1973 911S Targa ... 'Annie' 1968 340S Barracuda ... 'Rolling Thunder' | ||
|  08-16-2005, 12:46 PM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scituate, MA 
					Posts: 1,301
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			Hi Guys,  tnanks for the replies.  I think I found out what my problem was.  I bought new spark plug wires last year.  A month ago or so I noticed under darkness that a lot of sparking was going on at the plug connectors and at the cap.  I basically just took off each plug, one at a time; snipped off an inch and rescrewed on.  At the cap I just gave each line a bit of a reinforcing push.  Seems to work good now. Thanks again, David Oh, I bought a coil on my way home from work yesterday. I figured before I try the coil, let me find out if my wire job from the night before did anything. I'll leave the coil in the glove box for future use I guess. David | ||
|  08-17-2005, 03:11 AM | 
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| Designer King Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Toronto, ON Canada 
					Posts: 5,499
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			What did you snip...the wire?
		 
				__________________ Paul Yellow 77 Sunroof Coupe/cork interior; 3.2L SS '80 engine/10.3:1/No O2; Carrera Tensioners; 11 Blade Fan; Turbo tie rods; Bilstein B6; 28 tube Cooler; SSI, Dansk; MSD/Blaster; 16x7" Fuchs/205/50 Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s; PCA/UCR, MID9 Never leave well enough alone | ||
|  08-17-2005, 05:18 AM | 
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| Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Scituate, MA 
					Posts: 1,301
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			Yes, I unscrewed the wire from the connector and then snipped the wire about an inch back.  Not sure what wires you can do this for but the place I bought mine from recommended it. David | ||
|  08-17-2005, 05:20 AM | 
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