why does my coil get sooo hot, after about 2 laps around the block you cant even touch it.. should i have some sort of resistor in there?..

here is a pic of my engine, full of bling..

Is it a 6 volt coil????????

nah, 12 volt all there, only 6v part is the starter..

that looks like a ballast resistor ,is it wired correctly ?is it a electronic coil ?,the easiest way to fix it is get a 12v coil nstick it in not a 8v one that needs a ballast, and wire the ign directly to the coil :beer:beer:beer

Yes that may be true in a perfect world but a ballasted system will always and easily outperform a non ballasted ignition system when the going gets tough such as cold, wet conditions, when the battery is well down or when the ignition system is out of tune.

Its a bit hard to determine how the ignition system has been wired up but Id suggest that the coil is getting a full 12V rather than the reduced voltage downstream of the resistor.
A multimeter is your friend.
L8tr
E

ok, so 8v should be going to the coil.. its hooked stright up 12v now.. that resister that you see there goes to the choke... ill get the multi meter and check the output from that,,, if its 8v, then ill send it there hey..

ok, its is getting 12v, that that 'resistor' also spits out 12volts, so i dont know whats going on there,

so tell me more about a "ballasted system", what do i need to do?

just pinch a coil out of an early holden or for a ballasted system try an old valiant:thumb:


[ Edited on 6-4-06 by pod ]

nice spagetti , hows your regulator?

reg just replaced, last one died, should i be worried?

The resistor must be loaded to the coil to see 8V. Open circuit, IE: No load, it will read 12V. Ignore that.

Wire 12V switched from the key to one side of the ballast resistor. The other side of the ballast resistor to coil +ive.
The choke connects to the 12v switched side of the resistor, NOT the coil side..
Im not sure if the 6V starters have a switching terminal on the solenoid tho.
if there is, this should be connected to the coil +ive.
If not, u need a 12V relay. The pull in wire for the relay should be connected to the starter pullin wire and the other side of the relay pullin to ground.
The switch contacts of the relay should have switched 12V on one terminal and the otyher terminal goes to the coil +ive.

This way, the coil "runs" on 8V thru the resistor but sees 12 volts when cranking ensuring a good strong spark on cranking.

You cannot use the starter pullin wire to provide 12V to the coil as the starter will engage and will remain engaged untill you turn off the key!

Have fun
l8tr
E

cheers, will check that out!..

is that the whole purpose of ballast resistor type coils? to make sure they have full voltage at all times by running at 8v through the resistor?
my celica when i bought it had a GT40 coil with a ballast resistor fitted but the car kept dying after 10 mins of running
so i bought the correct GT40R coil for it and fixed the problem marginally till one day i noticed smoke coming from the resistor
replaced that and was fine for 6 months till the coil died
put an old dunnydore coil on been fine ever since
i know its big no no though to run a resistor style coil with no resistor fitted figures if its meant to run at 8v

Joel

[ Edited on 9-4-2006 by DUB74L ]

When I lived in Melbourne, back in the Dark Ages, I had a 62 Mini Minor that used to go like the clappers, but it would burn out the points and condensor within a week. It turned out that I was getting 28,000 volts at spark instead of 18,000 volts. It was fitted with a Holden 8 volt coil with no resistor. The coil got very hot. A new 12 volt coil fixed the problem.

I have always used 12 volt coils on my VW aircooled engines with no problems. Maybe you should get rid of all of the fancy 8 volt stuff and ballasts and fit a 12 volt coil.

A while back the coil on my buggy got very hot and it went like an old chaff cutter. I threw it away and fitted a new 12 volt coil. Problem fixed

Bwaahaahahahha "A'62 Mini Minor" and "go like the clappers" in one sentence!!
Mutually exclusive!!!! LMAO
L8tr
E

sorted, thanks mate! needed to put it through the resistor, now the coil does not overheat, that resistor gets hot tho, but i can live with that

The resisitor getting hot is normal.
happy coiling!
L8tr
E

tassupervee. That little 850 mini was modified for racing, it had a shaved head, twin SUs and an extractor, hence the hot coil and powerful spark. I used to give my mate in his Triumph TR3 a run for his money. The gearbox was so worn it sounded like a siren.

One evening, in that Mini, I raced a Ferrari from the top of Punt Road hill to Flinders Street via the MCG, in heavy traffic, passed him twice and was beaten by 50 metres.

It went like the hounds of Hell were chasing it.

Hehehehe those old little Minis were a good thing.
A good M8 of mine had a Cooper S with all the fruit under the bonnet. This was a serious bit of kit and did the business very well. Nothing was standard in that engine. A very full-on car but christ we had fun innit!
I have a very soft spot for them to this day. Not too bad for an engine that was primarily designed as a stationary (compressor) engine!
L8tr
E

hahahhaahahahahaha

I used to have a 997 cooper with the long stroke motor, valves so big great sections were machined outa the block, twin SU's of of a bathurst mini, rifled inlets (that will take you back) all the suspension tricks on the rubbers ( not hydro spastic) a cam that idled at 1100 etc etc, a real pig in traffic but would corner on 2 wheels, awesome in Adelaide (its ok, as long as you dont live there) hills roads. Closest thing to a go cart on the road... If I still lived in crapelaide I wopuld prob still have my clubman gt with the blower!

You blokes are sad cases!!!!!! Bwaahahahahahahahahaha!
L8tr
E