Getting the car ready for this weekend, and suddenly, the -wire coming off the ignition coil smoked itself while the car was running! I'm not concerned about the wire, because I was going to re-wire it tomorrow anyways... But I am curious why it would do this.... ideas?
Dan
Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
1980 LynxB SoloVee
-
Larry Bradley
- Posts: 248
- Joined: June 25th, 2006, 12:26 pm
Re: Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
Dan,
With what you have written it is difficult to make more than a WAG, (wild ass guess)
If it smoked, and the motor kept running, it might just have been crud on to coil that got hot and burned off.
BUT, beyond that, I guess it depends a lot on which wire you are writing about.
1: I would guess it is not the wire in the center that goes to the center of the distributor.
2: If it is the wire that goes to the hot, 12 volt side of the coil has shorted out somewhere, with the switch on, which it must have been, it is 12 volts positive, if it touches the frame and shorts out it will produce lots of smoke.
Rewire this wire.
But if that happened, the motor should have quit running.
3: If it was the other small wire going to the distributor, actually the points inside, then that side goes to ground anyway and should not have produced any smoke as far as I can diagnose.
If that went directly to ground, the motor should just quit running, no smoke.
So I am guessing it is the hot wire that smoked.
I would replace the wire, the switch, and the coil.
Check the distributor, for point gap.
And just to be most cautious, I would replace the condenser. Mostly, just for caution since you are going to an event and everything needs things to run OK.
Larry
With what you have written it is difficult to make more than a WAG, (wild ass guess)
If it smoked, and the motor kept running, it might just have been crud on to coil that got hot and burned off.
BUT, beyond that, I guess it depends a lot on which wire you are writing about.
1: I would guess it is not the wire in the center that goes to the center of the distributor.
2: If it is the wire that goes to the hot, 12 volt side of the coil has shorted out somewhere, with the switch on, which it must have been, it is 12 volts positive, if it touches the frame and shorts out it will produce lots of smoke.
Rewire this wire.
But if that happened, the motor should have quit running.
3: If it was the other small wire going to the distributor, actually the points inside, then that side goes to ground anyway and should not have produced any smoke as far as I can diagnose.
If that went directly to ground, the motor should just quit running, no smoke.
So I am guessing it is the hot wire that smoked.
I would replace the wire, the switch, and the coil.
Check the distributor, for point gap.
And just to be most cautious, I would replace the condenser. Mostly, just for caution since you are going to an event and everything needs things to run OK.
Larry
Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
-
DanRemmers
- Posts: 293
- Joined: June 24th, 2006, 7:21 pm
Re: Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
Dan,
Are you running points, or did you get the electronic ignition?
If the wire was loose, it could have heated up from the added resistance and still kept the engine running. (I think)
Dan
Are you running points, or did you get the electronic ignition?
If the wire was loose, it could have heated up from the added resistance and still kept the engine running. (I think)
Dan
Re: Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
Sorry guys,
I guess I shouldn't have been so vague... The wire that decided it didn't need insulation was the NEGATIVE wire from the coil to the on/off switch... As soon as it smoked itself, the engine cut off.. Re-wired the dashboard, and all the wiring going back to the engine today. Engine runs great! No hot wires or smoke either... Don't know what happened, but let's hope it doesn't happen tomorrow... hehe....
Dan
I guess I shouldn't have been so vague... The wire that decided it didn't need insulation was the NEGATIVE wire from the coil to the on/off switch... As soon as it smoked itself, the engine cut off.. Re-wired the dashboard, and all the wiring going back to the engine today. Engine runs great! No hot wires or smoke either... Don't know what happened, but let's hope it doesn't happen tomorrow... hehe....
Dan
1980 LynxB SoloVee
Re: Hmm.... I let the magic smoke out...
Huh??? Unless I've been doing it wrong for almost 30 years, the POSITIVE witched feed from the ignition switch goes to the + terminal on the coil, and the - terminal of the coil goes to the distributor breaker points which pulse it to ground to make the spark.Lt. Dan wrote:The wire that decided it didn't need insulation was the NEGATIVE wire from the coil to the on/off switch... As soon as it smoked itself, the engine cut off..
On a magneto-type points ignition (motorcycle, small engine), it is common to ground the negative terminal of the coil through the ignition switch to shut the engine off. I hope that you didn't use the wrong schematic when re-wiring your Vee.....