CHAD THOMAS Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 So my 1940 Buick left me stranded over the weekend. 2nd time in two months. Not real happy about it but life goes on. based on the symptoms it lead me back to the distributor again so out it comes and it has a oil in the bottom, not a good sign in my opinion. Pulled the shaft out so I could clean everything up including the oil return hole to hopefully stop the oil from reaching the top. put it on the sun machine and get everything in spec. Put it back in and it started and idled fine beyond that it would run very rough but made it 3/4 of mile to my friends shop where it could spend the night and I could have the use of a loaner. Next day I pick up a replacement condenser as the old one was 2 or 3 years old and you just never know. pulled the dist again and back to the sun machine ( great for holding them while you work on them ) and put the new condenser in, double checked point gap and back in the car it goes.Car will not even think about starting......... Very weak intermitten spark. Went to the shelf and grabbed a spare coil ( same brand ) installed it and it fired right up and runs pretty darn good. So the question is this, who makes a quality coil? the one that was bad had only been out of the package 60 days and only about 60 miles. Granted it was purchased at the local farm supply as a generic replacement for an old tractor. I have no issues buying name brand if I knew they were any better. So, Who does make a good quality coil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Have the store replace their bad coil and you will probably get one that will last your lifetime. sometimes things fail right out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlCapone Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 (edited) Why would you buy them in pairs in the first place? Maybe the coil is the symptom and not the problem. What is burning out the coils ! Get the car to a mechanic that knows his electrical stuff! Wayne Edited February 3, 2016 by AlCapone (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHAD THOMAS Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Googled possible causes for coil failure already knowing that leaving the ignition on with out it running will cause damage.possible causes for failure:bad wires,bad plugs,vibration.new coil mounted to firewall in same place as old coil. Wires are solid core less than 5 years old as well as plugs of same age. pulled one of the plugs and it still looks very serviceable. So I guess moving forward I will replace the one borrowed from my buddies shop as well as buy an extra and throw in the trunk and wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friartuck Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 BOSCH Coils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlCapone Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Bosch anything is quality ( except dishwasher ) ! Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 What is the voltage on the primary side of the coil when the car is running? After 75 years someone might have tossed away the resistor.Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ply33 Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 What is the voltage on the primary side of the coil when the car is running? After 75 years someone might have tossed away the resistor.BernieResistor on a coil on a 6v electrical system? I thought that was only on 12v electrical systems. . . Or maybe the 40 Buick used a 12v system but that would really surprise me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beltfed Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Ply33 is correct. There is no ballast resistor on a normal six volt system. With that said my Lincoln Zephyr 12 cylinder has two ballast resistors, one for each coil.Solid core wire? I don't know if that is orginial to the car but it is not good. Multi strand wire should always be use with any equipment that has vibration. Vibrations will work harden solid core wire and it will break. Before tossing the old coil I would make sure it is bad by comparing it's resistance to a good one, you never know. With solid core wire you might have made a bad connection. Condensers(electrolytic) and coils can be heat sensitive meaning that both have an oil base construction, the oil can break down with heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Could be the other way around; was supposed to run a non-resistor coil and had an internal resistor coil installed. Ohms law is still going to work and overtax the resisted coil to jump the gap. Get the meter out. And there are resistor 6V systems.Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beltfed Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Good catch FlatTop. Didn't think of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Yes. There were resisters on many early 6 Volt systems. A lot of cars from the teens and twenties have them. Very common on Fords in the later 1930's and 40's. They even used a ballast resister on the very common 9N, 2N, 8N Ford Tractors. Kicked the voltage from 6 Volts to 4 Volts. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D. Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 I think the biggest problem with coils today is that they are made in China or Mexico. I tried 3 new coils before I found one that was good. The car would start out running fine, the longer you run it the worse it would run till it would hardly run at all. The last coil I bought was from MSD and so far it is running strong. I am not aware of any coils made in the USA anymore. I have had the same problem with condensers. This is sad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Recent experiences have me buying only Echlin electrical parts at NAPA or keeping a watch for old stock on Ebay. With condensers you are better off pulling an old one from a 50 or 60 year old distributor.And I'm serious about that stuff- Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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