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Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:04 am

I have a quick question, Is there any problems with mounting a coil
upside down?? ie coil wire straight up. I have seen them mounted sideways, angled this way and that way, just not straight up..
Thanks guy's :roll:

Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:29 am

mount it however makes you happy

Sat Jun 05, 2010 5:21 am

Thanks,, Just one of those well why not, what can it hurt questions.

Sat Jun 05, 2010 8:33 am

coil needs to be grounded very well to something metal. obviously a metal clamp mounted to the fan shroud works well.

and the coil wire needs to reach from the coil to the distributor.

those are the ONLY requirements.

Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:47 am

drmiller100 wrote: coil needs to be grounded very well to something metal. obviously a metal clamp mounted to the fan shroud works well.

and the coil wire needs to reach from the coil to the distributor.

those are the ONLY requirements.

Are you sure about the grounding, I have seen may aftermarket coils with paint and plastic covering that i'm sure they cant ground through. :?

Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:37 am

I am mounting on the drivers side just in front of the carb (towards the rear) If I mount it coil wire up I can Have it low enough to still have good access to carb adjust and linkage. If I mount it coil wire down I have to raise it 3-4 inches as not to kink the coil wire or have any other wires touch metal. I am using the standard coil mount bracket bolted to the side, so no ground issues it is solid. I will go get a pic to show it.

Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:46 pm

krusher wrote: drmiller100 wrote: coil needs to be grounded very well to something metal. obviously a metal clamp mounted to the fan shroud works well.

and the coil wire needs to reach from the coil to the distributor.

those are the ONLY requirements.

Are you sure about the grounding, I have seen may aftermarket coils with paint and plastic covering that i'm sure they cant ground through. :?

Pretty hard to make a magic electrical anything which doesn't need to make a complete circuit.
If the sparky comes shooting out the coil wire, how does it get back to the coil?

Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:21 pm

Ok I have pic's,, now how do I load them here. I have done adds with pic's but now im lost. or does it even matter?[/GVideo]

Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:26 pm

if your coil is oil filled you cant install it upside down it will foul. i did it just this afternoon with my flame thrower. i nearly pull my hair out of my head to figure it out whats goin on with my engine.

Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:57 pm

then why does one that is sideways not foul?
mine is a Bosch blue coil.

Sun Jun 06, 2010 6:23 am

drmiller100 wrote: krusher wrote: drmiller100 wrote: coil needs to be grounded very well to something metal. obviously a metal clamp mounted to the fan shroud works well.

and the coil wire needs to reach from the coil to the distributor.

those are the ONLY requirements.

Are you sure about the grounding, I have seen may aftermarket coils with paint and plastic covering that i'm sure they cant ground through. :?

Pretty hard to make a magic electrical anything which doesn't need to make a complete circuit.
If the sparky comes shooting out the coil wire, how does it get back to the coil?

The coil doesn't need a ground per se. The return current for the spark flows through both the condenser, which is grounded and the DC input side of the coil ... through the battery to ground. It can 't hurt to ground the coil housing, but I don't think it's necessary.

Dave

Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:33 am

My ground is good, just checking to see if you can mount a coil upside down?? or coil wire pointing up?
Thanks guy's :roll:

Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:46 am

I've never heard of any automotive coil being orientation sensitive. If anything the standard orientation on an air-cooled VW is upside down. If anybody has any documentation otherwise I'd love to see it.

Dave

Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:00 pm

drmiller100 wrote: krusher wrote: drmiller100 wrote: coil needs to be grounded very well to something metal. obviously a metal clamp mounted to the fan shroud works well.

and the coil wire needs to reach from the coil to the distributor.

those are the ONLY requirements.

Are you sure about the grounding, I have seen may aftermarket coils with paint and plastic covering that i'm sure they cant ground through. :?

Pretty hard to make a magic electrical anything which doesn't need to make a complete circuit.
If the sparky comes shooting out the coil wire, how does it get back to the coil?

IF you look at coil schematic its all internal wired.... Ground is actually supplied by POINTS or Ignition Box (MSD?) to negetive (-) terminal... The case does not require grounding to function, grounding case may only help with electrical/ignition noise shielding....

This is why all coil test measurements are taken for Negative (-) terminal to Positive (+) terminal and /or from Negative (-) terminal to center (tower) terminal or Positive (+) terminal to tower connection... Never to case....

Also MSD technical documents state "oil filled coils should be mounted with tower facing up"....

http://www.msdignition.com/uploadedFiles/MSDIgnitioncom/Support/WDTN_pn9615.pdf

See page 7....

Dale

Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:09 am

dlund wrote: I've never heard of any automotive coil being orientation sensitive. If anything the standard orientation on an air-cooled VW is upside down. If anybody has any documentation otherwise I'd love to see it.

Dave

MSD generally recommends installing their coils "in an upright position" - see this link for an example.

http://www.msdignition.com/uploadedFiles/MSDIgnitioncom/Products/Coils/8200_instructions.pdf

I have seen MSD have their oil leak out if put in upside-down.

Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:08 am

Ahhh, OK. That makes sense. I'm an electrical guy, and not used to components that leak vital fluids! I can make smoke come out of virtually anything though.

Dave

Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:05 pm

so buy the msd instructions you are saying they say to mount the coil
with the coil tower or coil wire input pointing up? the other end of the coil is sealed hence no leak? So then by this Yes it is ok if I mount my coil with the connection end ( coil wire and + and - wires ) up pointing to the sky!! Which would indicate anyone with a coil mounted on the shroud stock location faces a possible leak from the coil?
Am I reading all this right?

Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:34 pm

MSD coils must be upright, ie. up or down, but preferably not horizontal...which may lead to intermittant issues.

Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:45 pm

ok now back to my og question can I then mount my bosch 12 volt blue coil with the wire connection end pointed up? I think so now.
I am still trying to add my pic to this, any suggestions on what to click on to add a pic?

Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:08 pm

I think the consensus here is that the only reason a coil needs any sort of orientation is if it's of the oil filled variety. In that case it should have the leads come out the top to reduce the probability of a leak. Electrically there should no problem with any orientation. I'm pretty sure the Bosch blue coils are not oil filled, in which case you can point it any direction you like. I think you can skip the picture. FYI, there is a thread in the late model bug section on engine bay pictures. Lots of different coil positions and orientations shown.

Dave