Can you burn up the ignition coil?

[csmall]

Something I've been wondering about for awhile..... I cannot listen to the radio in my 924S with the engine off without the warning lights on, fans capable etc... Most other cars have an extra position/click when turning the ignition where one can listen to the radio without running all the other electronics right? My buddy told me that I can 'burn out' the coil if I leave the key in this position for an extended period. Any suggestions?

[944 boy]

Not totally sure about 924s' but the 944 you have an intermediate position that allows accessories. I've never heard about burning up a coil, probably depends on how long you have it on.

[Schumi]

The coil doesn't interact unless the engine is running or cranking. You should be fine.

As for the warning lights... they will stay on. The fans will run if the car is hot enough for them to run. Once the car reaches the cutoff temperature they should turn off.

[jpk]

With my early car, the radio would work as soon as the key was inserted. I'm pretty sure that was the way it was intended.

[flash968]

not sure about the coil, but in older cars, you could eventually fry the points, and/or the condenser, if you happened to land with the points closed and left it there for too long

[thekidd]

My guess with my 924S is that the ignition coil did indeed burn up, and ended burning the whole engine bay in an engine fire. The ignition system has 3 positions, off-on-ignioyion. When you start the car, the key goes from off, on, then to ignition, then automaticly goes back to the on position. You can run the radion only if the key is in position 2 along with all the other accesories.

[csmall]

Good description Kidd, my only concern was that there is a danger of leaving the key in the 'on' position without the engine running. Sounds like there isn't a danger to the coil from what others have said. Kind of strange though, seems like every other car I've had has 4 positions. My stereo turns on in position 2, and the warning lights stay on. What about most 944s, are there 4 positions are does the radio/electronics activate as soon as the key is inserted?

[HondaDustR]

Mine will activate the radio circuit by just inserting the key. My radio (aftermarket)is wired straight to the battery so I don't have that problem...before I knew that that's how the stock radio circuit works. I decided to use that circuit as a power source to energize the relay for some driving lights I added recently so they are impossible to leave on and found out durring testing that that circuit gets power even with the key "off" but still inserted. The late cars might be different, though, but the 924S's still use the early switch gear which does seem to work that way.

[rsrmike]

You should have a wire near the radio that get's power when the key is inserted, Some radioshop probably wired it wrong if it is aftermarket,

The coil will get power anytime the key is on, just won't be triggered by the DME, in theory it's not good. Maybe check the temp on the coil (preferebly w/ infrared thermometer) after listening to you favorite tunes for a while

You should have a red and black wire coming off the ignition switch that gets hot when the key is inserted, It powers up terminal 85 of the radio relay, (as well as the seat belt warning relay but screw that thing) The radio relay gets it's main power from fuse 7 to power the radio, the power from the red and black wire simply closes the relay, provided terminal 86 on the realy has a proper ground.

The radio relay should be under driver's dash next to DME. Look for a (4) pin plug harness/relay w/ (2) 0.5mmbrown wires siamesed on one connector, a single red/black or red/white 0.5mm wire, (1) 1.5mm red/black wire, and finally a 1.5mm red and white wire siamesed w/ a 1.0mm red wire. According to the factory wiring diagram...

Good luck,
Mike