TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:39 am

Besides being new vs being used....

any real difference in these power wise, service wise etc?

Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:15 pm

Most of the time, over many years, I've always put used blue coils on my buses engines and never had any trouble with them.

Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:33 pm

i had an NOS dealer replacement black coil, offered it to a buddy of mine and he told me he didn't want it cuz the numbers were wrong.

most buses out there, it doesn't matter blue or black. there are some where it does. the number thing tho, come on.

Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:37 pm

yeah you can't be that picky to the component part level, as parts superseded others, and normal replacement...is normal.

I was just wondering if the blue ones threw more juice to the plugs. I'm thinking of just painting mine black as opposed to using an old black one.

Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:45 pm

As far as i've heard there is no dfifference- I paint 'em too.

Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:38 pm

The newer ones are supposed to be longer lasting and higher spark, though that could be sales-talk. Paint works for me.

Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:21 pm

i think the advent of the blue coil came in with the bosch "screamer kit" blue coil, blue distributor, supposedly enhanced power on 36er's

Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:51 am

The blue coils have different specs depending on country of manufacture. Most VW ignitions need a coil with an internal ballast. If yours doesn't have one, you will need to add an external one.

http://www.aircooled.net/new-bin/viewproductdetail.php?keyword2=IGC0001&cartid=0605200787721972

Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:38 am

That's a great little article!!^^^^

Good to know how to test a coil.
I think they are likely refering to 12V coils in the article though. I wonder if the correct resistance readings are different for a 6V coil?

Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:43 am

according to that site: if there are 5 different Bosch blue coils, and only one has the ballast, and that one is 12v, that entails none of the Bosch blue 6v coils has a ballast.

as for testing the internal resistance of the coil may still be close on 6v coils as the resistance should not be a function of voltage, although the specs between them might of course, vary.

Wed Jun 06, 2007 9:26 am

From rockauto.com 6v coils
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # UC14T {TRU-TECH}
breakerpoint Ignition; 6 Volt; Volkswagen Distributor

$13.90 $0.00 $13.90
AIRTEX Part # 5C1019
(Dist. ZV/JU4R3, 111 905 205N, 0 231 137 005, 0 231 147 002)

$17.34 $0.00 $17.34
AIRTEX Part # 5C1063
w/Garbe-Lahmeyer Ign. (Dist. 113 905 205B, J)

$25.79 $0.00 $25.79
BOSCH Part # 00016 {Coil #16}
M/T;

$28.79 $0.00 $28.79
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # UC14
breakerpoint Ignition; 6 Volt; Volkswagen Distributor

$30.99 $0.00 $30.99

Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:03 am

When they first came out they were sold as a slightly higher output voltage. The black ones make a perfectly good spark for a stockish engine. It doesn't take much spark to light a normal cylinder charge if your plugs are good and the gap is good.

Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:21 pm

From what I remember from auto shop many years ago, the reason for the resistor in the primary ignition circuit is to drop the voltage that passes through the points. This helps to keep them from "burning" prematurely. That makes me wonder if its necessary to drop that voltage on a 6V system. Mopars used an external resistor in their systems and I believe the voltage dropped to around 4-5. The resistor has to warm up to drop the voltage, that's why when you use a resistor type volt-a-drop for your 6-12V wiper conversions, they run faster for a few seconds when you first turn them on.[/quote]

Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:27 am

as i mentioned

Thu Jun 07, 2007 4:44 am

cdennisg wrote: From what I remember from auto shop many years ago, the reason for the resistor in the primary ignition circuit is to drop the voltage that passes through the points. This helps to keep them from "burning" prematurely. That makes me wonder if its necessary to drop that voltage on a 6V system. Mopars used an external resistor in their systems and I believe the voltage dropped to around 4-5. The resistor has to warm up to drop the voltage, that's why when you use a resistor type volt-a-drop for your 6-12V wiper conversions, they run faster for a few seconds when you first turn them on. [/quote]

here's a reference I found on the web:

"he ballast resistor was original used with breaker point distributers to reduce the voltage going to the coil from 12V down to 7V or 8V to avoid fusing the breaker point contacts together,"

chevy forum http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1324209

if that is indeed correct, I would dare to say again no 6v coils have resistors for almost any make of car.

anyway, I am just going to paint mine and carry an original used as a spare.

Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:50 am

http://www.356registry.org/Tech/coil-blueblack.html

Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:56 am

thanks, the empirical curiosity is satisfied.