coil arc

[geezerstiva]

89 carbed 4spd. last night it was doing the whole intermittent miss thing (think its the plug wires, not sure about that tho). i was pulling off plug wires to see which cylinder it was, and everytime i pulled one off, there were blue sparks arcing from one side of the coil to the middle. just wondering, is this normal? also, before it gets warmed up, when you push the gas to the floor, it will die. if you keep doing this over and over, eventually it will go on and rev up right. when it does this, it kinda sounds like something arcing under there. could these two be related? thanks!

[FestYboy]

ok, wow. first, TUNE UP!! cap rotor and wires. while your at it, replace the coil with a Accel Super Stock found at any Mc AutoParts. total cost in parts should be around $70.

anywho, the arcing you're describing is most likely due to a high resistance somewhere at the cap/rotor assm. and there's an easier path from the coil tower to the ground post of the coil, thus the arcing (betting on broken coil tower).

the other issue is the carb is dribbling fuel into the intake, and since the intake is cold, it can't help vaporize the droplets of fuel, thus the boging/stalling untill warmed up.

[mhstark]

ok, wow. first, TUNE UP!! cap rotor and wires. while your at it, replace the coil with a Accel Super Stock found at any Mc AutoParts. total cost in parts should be around $70.

anywho, the arcing you're describing is most likely due to a high resistance somewhere at the cap/rotor assm. and there's an easier path from the coil tower to the ground post of the coil, thus the arcing (betting on broken coil tower).

the other issue is the carb is dribbling fuel into the intake, and since the intake is cold, it can't help vaporize the droplets of fuel, thus the boging/stalling untill warmed up.

A trick from the old days .... we use to go out at night when it was dark open the hood and light er off then spray windex on the wiring and if there was a spark there would be a little blue flame for a second or two as the alcohol in the windex ignited by the spark leak pointed out the faulty wire.
Marv

[skeeters_keeper]

^ I usually put one hand on ground, and start grabbing wires... when you get zapped, you've got a bad wire.


I'm in accord with what Festy said, have you looked at the cap/rotor yet? Spark plugs? Checked the coil for cracks/obvious wear?

[krbballer]

the other issue is the carb is dribbling fuel into the intake, and since the intake is cold, it can't help vaporize the droplets of fuel, thus the boging/stalling untill warmed up.[/QUOTE]

How is this problem fixed? I have this problem every morning. I have to pump the gas pedal a few times, then start the car. It will run a little rough and if I press the gas pedal the car stalls. I can gently touch the gas pedal a couple of times without it stalling until pressing the gas pedal finally raises the idle, then the car runs fine.

[WmWatt]

Pumping the gas pedal is normal. It has to do with triggering the automatic choke on the carburettedd model. The owner's manual says to pump it three times and then hold it half way down while cranking the engine.

I take out the plugs at least twice a year to clean and gap but not change. The ignition wires, cap, rotor, and coil all get wiped with a clean rag. I also have the dielectric paste on the inside of the rubber boots at each end to keep out moisture. The Festiva is notorious for weak ingition. I find it helps to keep the components clean and costs nothing to do. I check the ignition every once in a while with a hand held vacuum guage when the engine is warmed up. It takes very little time to lift the hood when I get home, pull the top vacuum hose off the distributor (carburetted engine) and plug in the guage. If the needle is steady it's okay, If it's vibrating the engine is missing and it's time to wipe down the ignition components.

[geezerstiva]

so you think the coil is bad? the cap and rotor all look good, i took them off and cleaned/scraped them not long ago. there is a little corrosion down in the coil where the wire plugs in.
how is the carb dribbling fixed? is it fixable?

[FestYboy]

the dribbling is NORMAL!!!

I take it you're not used to having a carbed car, and according to your vehical list, I'd be right. carbs need some heat to help vaporize fuel when it's cold (like 65 or below). one thing to help this is cleaning the carb w/ carb cleaner, and running concentrated fuel cleaner through the carb (2 bottles of fuel treatment in a 1/4 filled tank) periodicaly (once every 6mos-1 yr). this is called regular maintenance.... it's a good thing.

as for the arcing, if you can afford to do so, replace the parts mentioned and you won't see it happen again for a very long time (provided the new parts are good).

[geezerstiva]

i am used to having a carbed car actually. the 88 L never did this, even when it was like 20 degrees outside. i drove it for two years, my parents drove it since 88.

well, today it started missing. on the number 4 cylinder (i think? its the first one on the drivers side). i changed plug wires, cap and rotor, and the #4 spark plug. its still missing. dont necessarily think this is related, but what could it be? my dad suggested a sticking valve, cause it only does it when its at idle. if you rev it up, it runs right. any other suggestions before i give up and start looking for valves and time to change them?

[jglutz]

The coil should never....never....never arc. There is a major break down of the coil insulation (encapsulation). Time for a new coil.

[geezerstiva]

will it hurt anything?

[FestYboy]

^ check compression!!! and yes an arcing coil can do wonders