Thread: On the side of the road again, any help would be wonderful!!

Originally Posted by TravelingCanadian

Hold the phone, it is supposed to have an 8V coil?
I would have to double check but I believe I have a 12V (on there when purchased).

If it is the higher volt coil as I suspect would this burn out the condenser/points thus give me the symptoms that I have described!

Thanks!
Mike

No - it is supposed to be a 12 v coil, but if you fit an eight volt one - which may have been sold as a 12v one - it will cause the points to burn (and eventually destroy the coil). The 8v coil is not usually referred to as such, but as a 12v (ballast) coil. These are rare on English design engines, but common on North American design ones. And with simple Kettering ignition now being a thing of the past for many suppliers, it is not at all hard to get sold the wrong one.

John

The points switch the the current on and off in the coil that sets up your collapsing field to generate your HV for the spark plugs. If the coil requires a ballast resistor then you will be running a a higher current through the points. Check to see if you do need a ballast resistor (which is usually bypassed at start up), it might be easier to change to the correct coil than have to play around with ballasts and bypassing. Not a bad idea to change the points and the capacitor at the same time.

G'day Folks

A standard series 3 only requires a straight 12v coil,which is often a Bosch GT40 unballasted, but a GT40R is a ballasted coil,this is the one commonly supplied by most spare parts sales people as the majority of common vehicles on the road use them,but people with older vehicles and tractors require a standard unballasted coil,my 1985 Range Rover,first model with electronic ignition,requires an unballasted coil but a GT40 (90,000volts) is to much for the ign module as it was designed for the Lucas 12V coil (55,000 volts) I learned the expensive way at night the old aftermarket coil gave a nice light show

cheers

Originally Posted by UncleHo

G'day Folks

A standard series 3 only requires a straight 12v coil,which is often a Bosch GT40 unballasted, but a GT40R is a ballasted coil,this is the one commonly supplied by most spare parts sales people as the majority of common vehicles on the road use them
cheers

My Series III has an electronic trigger (it replaces the points). Does this make a difference to which coil should be used?

Coop

Originally Posted by C00P

My Series III has an electronic trigger (it replaces the points). Does this make a difference to which coil should be used?

Coop

If it just replaces the points, no. It is possible that it is an electronic module that needs a different coil, but pretty unlikely.

John