Hot Coil

[Matthew]

Hi All, Well I am working through the trouble shooting on my 1.7 L in my 71 914 and have a quick question. I just replaced all of the basic ignition component (plugs, plug wires, points, condensor, cap and rotor. When I try to fire up the engine at first it will almost cough to life. But the longer I try to get it started the less it will fire. By an off chance while I was looking things over i touched the coil and it was extremly hot. Not hot enough to burn but hot enough to not want to touch it for long. Could a bad coil be all that I have to overcome, are they supposed to get hot like that? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

[Wayne 962]

If your coil is very hot, then most likely it is grounded somehow. When you are trying to fire the coil, it's not getting a good spark because there is a short somewhere. Check the connections to the coil, and make sure that the lead that attaches to the points is not accidentally grounded...

Hope this helps,

Wayne

[Matthew]

Wayne,
Thanks for the advice. But I think I found the problem a burnt external coil resistor. I replaced the coil with a new one with enternal resistor and it tries to start more than ever but won't make it. Well time to dive into the fuel injection I guess.