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voltage on coil?

Posted: 12 Sep 2014, 18:22
by rallye69
Hi, van had new coil & 2nd hand distributor, cap & rotor arm before we went to france , all good.
been back 3 weeks now van wont start, fuel ok , no spark from plugs.
there is 12v at coil wires with ignition on , but when i connect them to the coil there is no voltage .... :?
whats going on ?

Re: voltage on coil?

Posted: 13 Sep 2014, 09:08
by bigherb
Most probably a poor connection somewhere in the wiring from the ignition switch.
Year of van would help to identify where it might be.

Re: voltage on coil?

Posted: 13 Sep 2014, 09:51
by rallye69
its an 81 but has a 1.9 petrol dg in it, as said all was running very well, then its been parked up for 3 weeks & now wont start

Re: voltage on coil?

Posted: 13 Sep 2014, 10:11
by bigherb
Then it would have had some alterations to the wiring in the engine bay, depending how well and what has been done I would start looking there.
If you have a 12v test lamp or multimeter work your way back along the black wire from the coil till you find good 12V.

Re: voltage on coil?

Posted: 13 Sep 2014, 15:57
by ghost123uk
Try connecting a 12 volt indicator bulb to that live wire and an earth, (take care not to short the live wire directly to earth!) Does the bulb light up. If as suspected, it does not, then proceed as above ^^^. This is just to test the theory that it is a bad connection in that circuit. If the bulb lights up good and bright, a bad connection is not the issue.

p.s. You probably know this, but I will mention it anyway, you can use your bare fingers to hold the wire onto the tip of the bulb while you earth the outer bit of the bulb (or use a bulb holder from your spares box) you cannot get a shock off 12 Volts (but you sure can off the HT leads and associated connections !!)

Re: voltage on coil?

Posted: 14 Sep 2014, 15:06
by rallye69
SORTED !!!!!! it was the idle speed blue box at fault !!! just need to find a new one ! :ok