Engine Will Not Fire, Previous Thread.

[ronboyracer]

coil type would seem to be fitted with ballast wire, will it be 12 volt?, or 9 volt, spark at plugs poss suspect not strong enough, weak spark white etc thats why i am suspecting the coil, marked as bosch and 12 volts very confusing, multi meter readings seem to be down, could anybody help with the ballast situation is it necessary or not.

ronboyracer

[Guest Christine]

Hi, I had this problem, it should state on the coil if it requires ballast if its ballasted it should be a 9 volt feed with the engine running 12 volt at start up ie cranking, You can wire the coil from the Ignition (direct 12 volts) to see if this improves the starting problem, if it is a ballasted coil it will need replacing with a unballasted item else it will eventually burn out or you can replace the ballast resistor, I found it quite difficult to get hold of one locally, think I paid £10 from Bromsgove Auto Electrics.

Good Luck.

Edited May 4, 2010 by Garry

[Longboarder]

Ballasted coil is a waste of tech effort. Seemed like a good idea to Ford at the time to assist starting but the wrong solution to a tired battery on a cold winters day trying to start a poorly maintained engine. Keeping the car in fine fettle works better. You can just use a 12 volt coil and disconnect the ballast gubbins. Try your coil connected direct to ignition live. If it says 12v on the bottom it probably is and will be pathetic if run at 9v.

 

Nigel

[Guest peter2b2002]

don't know if it's any use to you but I have a spare coil from my efi , don't know if you can use it with a points type of distributor though, i'm just down the road from you if you want to try it

peter2b

[ronboyracer]

don't know if it's any use to you but I have a spare coil from my efi , don't know if you can use it with a points type of distributor though, i'm just down the road from you if you want to try it

peter2b