Thread: Holden Series 3 starts but wont restart

I opened the dizzy again and noticed that the centre pin (not sure whats its called but where the lead from the coil attaches) does not spring back and seems to be caught pushed in (when viewed from inside the cap). Would this have implications?

Points were also new a few months ago, so they are fine (as far as I can tell).

There is a slight greasy/oily residue inside the base of the dizzy but very very limited amounts.

Ok now I remember balast resistor on the holden's haha I did try all this on series 3 but all ways kept on burning out the points which is why the the change to complete electronic assy but I never cured the no fire after 7pm it was allways no probs during the day just one of thoughs mystery's that I never had with my holdens

James, it's dead easy to check if your coil is working.

Unhook your HT lead off the dist, hold it about 5mm off an earth then with the ign ON, unhook the LT the wire that goes to the distributor and touch it on a earth. Each time you do it, you should get a fat spark.

My 2A has a 186 & has a GT40R coil so it needed a ballast. It was much cheaper to buy a generic ballast resistor rather than a new coil (about $10 vs $40).

This is a good link to explain ign system checking:


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhVRxjxuuQ"]Car Ignition Coil Testing - YouTube[/ame]

If that doesn't do it, there are about a dozen others that may explain it better!

Originally Posted by geodon

James, it's dead easy to check if your coil is working.

Unhook your HT lead off the dist, hold it about 5mm off an earth then with the ign ON, unhook the LT the wire that goes to the distributor and touch it on a earth. Each time you do it, you should get a fat spark.

My 2A has a 186 & has a GT40R coil so it needed a ballast. It was much cheaper to buy a generic ballast resistor rather than a new coil (about $10 vs $40).

This is a good link to explain ign system checking:


Car Ignition Coil Testing - YouTube

If that doesn't do it, there are about a dozen others that may explain it better!

Stupid question time, but which is the HT and LT leads?

Cheers

Sorry James! That's a valid question!

LT is Low Tension. These are the thin wires. The coil has two:

+ve is the wire from the ign switch (via a ballast resistor if applicable)

-ve this wire goes from the coil to the distrbutor points.

HT is High Tension the big fat wires. These carry the charge to make the sparks at the plugs. Every time the points open & shut, the -ve wire gets earthed & a spark goes along the HT wire to the middle terminal of the distributor then via the rotor to the spark plug that's meant to fire.

Watch that video. If that's not clear, search YouTube fpr "how ignition Systems Work" etc.

I'm still having no luck getting it going, but if the coil is dead would now be a good time to upgrade the ignition system? I've heard you can put electronic ignition on the old 186's to make them better. What does this involve and is it easy to install?

Electronic distributor setup - advice please

ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR EH HR HT HG HK HQ HJ HX LC LJ HOLDEN 173 179 186 202 | eBay

HOLDEN 6CYL COIL IGNITION LEADS ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTOR | eBay

Just for clarification, the spark from your coil will happen when you break the earth, not when you touch it to something - like when the points in the dizzy open - the collapsing magnetic field on the primary (LV) side of the coil induces a high voltage in the secondary (HT) side.