| Author |
Message |
HamburgerBrad
Je suis Napoléon!
Joined: February 21, 2003
Posts: 6957
Location: SoCal
|
 Posted: Mon May 12, 2003 12:00 pm Post subject: ignition coil failure |
 |
|
about a week ago, my bug died on me while on the way to the gas station. turns out the ignition coil was suddenly no good? has this happened to anyone else, and are there ways to prevent it from happening in the future?
Brad |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Aussiebug
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2002
Posts: 2162
Location: Adelaide Australia
|
| Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 12:09 am Post subject: ignition coil failure |
|
|
It's very unusual for a coil to go bad - they are usually very reliable.
I have a 33 year old one in my bug (with 248,000 original miles on it) which is still going strong.
When you put the new coil in, just do a couple of simple tests on the electrical system to make sure it's working well and not overpowering the coil. With a voltmeter or VOM, measure the battery voltage with the engine off (should be a fraction over 12v) and them with the engine running (should be between 14.2 and 14.5 volts). If that's OK, the coil is operating at it's normal voltage (a bad regulator could possibly allow an increased voltage through).
Make sure the car is well tuned and perhaps consider changing the condensor (if it's old).
Apart from that there isn't much else that could cause a coil to blow, except the quality of the coil itself.
Oh - and make sure it's not a resistor type coil - for example Bosch makes two blue coils - one with an "R" designator, which you DON'T want for a bug.
Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
HamburgerBrad
Je suis Napoléon!
Joined: February 21, 2003
Posts: 6957
Location: SoCal
|
| Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 8:18 am Post subject: ignition coil failure |
|
|
thanks for the help, i did replace the plug wires, points, condenser, the usual ignition stuff when i put the new coil in. voltage was in the green, so i really dont know what could have caused it. the old one, as well as the new one, are bosch blue coils, which are supposed to be pretty good? right?
Brad |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aussiebug
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2002
Posts: 2162
Location: Adelaide Australia
|
| Posted: Tue May 13, 2003 8:32 pm Post subject: ignition coil failure |
|
|
The Bosch blue coils are as good as anything else.
Might have just been an unfortunate bad one.
Althought the quality of Bosch plugs seems to have deminished in recent years - I've had several new ones bad, and now use NKG B5HS as a result (excellent results). There are several Bosch factories around the world though, so a problem here may not be a problem there...
Rob (in Australia)
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
