New to this board "Please help" I need to know what the primary voltage should be on the coil while engine is running on a 1978 california pinto with stock electronic ignition. Thank you!
I'm pretty sure all non-points Pintos take 12 volts on the positive side of the coil. Points cars cut that back to around 7-ish with a resistor wire or ballast resistor before the coil.
Thank you for the reply and I have another question if you can help me. I am getting just 5 volts with the ignition in run position before starting the car and 4 volts when the car is running. I assume that this voltage is to low to get consistant firing which right now this has been the problem, inconsistent firing to all cylinders.
Yeah, if your voltmeter is accurate you have a problem somewhere. Even points ignition needs more than 4 volts.
What's the voltage at the positive coil wire with the key on & the wire OFF the coil?
I'm getting 11.5 volts with key on and with wires removed from coil.
Quote from: hqtoyou on September 11, 2012, 07:03:56 PM
I'm getting 11.5 volts with key on and with wires removed from coil.
That's a little low but acceptable. Are there any wires tapped into either side of the coil like a choke wire on the positive side or a tach on the negative side?
Nothing at all this car is bone stock from the factory. I traced the ground side, it comes from the ignition control module then from the coil it goes to the engine management module. Maybe the management module is bad and causing a short which in turn is causing a higher resistance than it should. I have replaced the following, distibutor,pickup coil,ignition coil,ICU,plugs,plug wires,distributor cap and rotor, all of which needed replacing anyway. The only other thing I can think of is I got the wrong coil and it has an internal resistor which with a electronic ignition it should not. but even so I should get better than 4 volts when running.
Were the coil & control box new or used?
All the parts that I replaced are new.
So what's it actually doing on you? Shutting off randomly or running rough?
Call me at 330-307-6368 it will be easier than typing all this out.
Keith