Little backstory, car is a 1972 GS350, pretty much stock. All put back together after a winter cleanup, wires put back where they once were. A few starts and stops here and there, everything runs just fine. Starts amazingly well. The engine actually acted like it has always been together as fast as it starts and runs. Whilst cranking after charging a pisspoor battery, the positive wire going from the coil to the Accel electronic ignition in the distributor decided to go up in smoke. Would like to add it ran for about 30 minutes without a hiccup. Well except that dang battery. The question is.. Replace the electronic ignition of unknown age.. Or Is there a deeper issue here? To me it seems like a very funky place for a wire to fry. Any input is appreciated.
A bit more info.. The battery is at 12.4V, and I measure 11.6V at the positive stud of the coil while the key is in Run position. Couldn't get cranking voltage as my arm is only so long.. The Accel 2005 points eliminator kit requires a ballast or resistor but has been running on 11.6-12V for some time. Not sure what is going on as there was the wrapped fiber line when I pulled the harness. Also the yellow line from the R terminal of the starter is still hooked up. To exacerbate the issue.. the 3 lines from the ignition were kinked and grounded itself to the distributor. Guess I found my short.. Maybe with this new found information I should find a suitable 12v replacement ignition and be happy. However it still puzzles me as to why I'm getting almost full voltage from the end of the pink wire, and + side of the coil. Crazy or roll with an new 12v points eliminator ignition? SELF HELP EDIT: Found short in wire, new ignition coming in.
Further investigation.. So Ive established that i have 11.6v at the + stud of the coil with the key in Run position. So hmm I think.. Maybe the shorting switch in the starter is stuck and giving me constant full voltage. Lift, then crawl under the car and remove the yellow wire from the R terminal of the starter. Rehook battery, key in Run, 11.6v yet gain. Fail. Must test resistor wire! Take the block off the firewall (no fun task) and proceed to strip all the pretty wrapping I just completed. Hindsight is 20/20 here.. love ripping apart my beautiful engine bay.. Measurement on the resistance wire reads 2.0 ohms. Manual states 1.8 +/- .05. So now I am truly at a loss. The new system I have coming in runs of factory voltage at the coil (5-5.5v). And since we are measuring things.. the coil was 1.4 ohms. Soooo..what now..
Ok, if you have the pink wire disconnected from the coil and use your DVOM between the pink wire and negative on the battery, you will get 12v or thereabouts. If you leave the pink wire connected to the coil and put the DVOM leads on the two posts of the coil, you'll get 5.5 volts. I tested this out on my car which has Pertronix in it. If the car had points, you would need to run a jumper from the negative on the coil to the negative on the battery to make sure you had a circuit e
And as far as the electronic ignition, I never liked that Accel ignition it had. Didn't look factory. If you have your heart set on eliminating the points, just get a Pertronix for it. I have it in the beater.
Well this is about to get embarrassing.. I measured + post to a ground. Ill toss it back together tomorrow and test between the post. I'll sh!% a chicken and make it for dinner if that works.. I never did either, I shortened the wires and did my best to make it look decent. The wire routing wasn't ideal but it looks like it has been run that way for a decade plus, time for a change so I went fancy on this occasion since she only deserves the best. Got a Lectric Limited system coming in from Todd
I have heard nothing but rave reviews like you have mentioned. If nothing else this little adventure allows me to gain a better understanding of how things work. Isn't learning fun
When you do that test with points, the points must be closed for the test to be accurate. Do it with the points open, and you get battery voltage. As long as the resistance wire is in place, you are fine. I’d choose the lectric Ltd. set up over Pertronix.
Hey Larry! Good info on points setup, however this has a converted Accel aftermarket ignition. BTW thanks for your ignition sticky, it was priceless during my investigation.
Right, so the test doesn't apply. You just need to make sure the resistance wire is there, OR, use a ballast resistor.
Nope, you have your resistance wire in place, you're good to go with the Accel. Just rewire what you have and avoid shorts.
Couple of tests I did on my car which has Pertronix- Pink + wire disconnected off coil. Red lead on pink wire, black lead to neg on battery- Pink wire reconnected . DVOM leads to pos and neg on coil-
Results are in! 11.65v with red lead on pink wire and black on ground. 0.01 volts with pink wire connected and DVOM on positive and negative coil post. For kicks I measured coil negative to ground, 11v. Love to take pictures but I left my phone in the backseat of a strangers car (long story) Its been a day..
I left my phone one morning at my local Dunkin Donuts a few years ago. The DD guy, "Nipu" picked it up after I left and in order to figure out who's phone it was, he called the last number dialed which was Tony Yac (Yacster) who I had just called. So the DD guy gets Tony on the phone. Tony naturally thinks its me effin with him in an Indian accent. Tony said he was just about to unload on who he thinks is me, when he realizes the guy on the phone is for real. It was comedy gold. Tony was laughing so hard explaining it to me. Sorry about you phone. Any chance you'll get it back? Taulb, Im assuming you have the fried Accel ignition completely disconnected? If so, whats connected to the negative side of the coil?
hahah!! I don't blame him, I'd love to hear a Long Island accent impersonating an Indian one! I was traveling with the wife and pooch and the car decided not to accelerate anymore in the middle of a busy intersection. If anyone is familiar with the Greene in Dayton.. I was in front of that. A few good samaritans helped us push her car out of the way. They were probably sick of it being in the road..Waited for a tow, tow truck drivers wife waited in Burger King since there wasn't room for us, her and the dog. Got it to the shop and the shop managers wife was there and said she would take us home. Very nice folk I might add, but being flustered and leash in one hand I mistook a spare protection asset as a cell phone. Hopefully Ill get it back but might be a few days to coordinate. Off the grid! I measured the negative side a few different ways, once with nothing, once with the tach wire on, then with the accel wire meant for the negative side hooked up, and last just straight to ground. Its got to be something simple and I am missing it. The chassis service manual is sitting in my lap and I'm hardcore reviewing section 68 but coming up blank. Lectric system is coming in regardless however I do not know if when installed if that will give me the proper voltage. Im hesitant to start anything without getting that number.