On Tue, 25 Mar 1997 DANMAS@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 97-03-25 19:32:46 EST, Vince J. Pujalte wrote:
>
> << Strangely, my car will run on just the white wire, indicating a
> constant, not switched, flow of electricity.
> What do you make of that? >>
>
> Evidently, you have a coil that is designed to operate on 12 volts, with no
> ballast, therefore, no need for switching. I am not nearly as familiar with
> Of course, another possibility is that the coil parameters are not as
> critical as we think, and as long as every thing else is ok, it doesn't
> matter?
> Dan Masters
> Alcoa, TN
>
I think Vince's point is that the white wire should not be live when the
ignition switch is in the run position. A coil designed to run with a
ballast resistor will run on 12 volts, but it's life will be reduced.
However, the wiring should supply 12 volts to the coil through the
unballasted wire only when the starter is operating. When the key is
released from the start position and moves to the run position, the wire
supplying unballasted current should no longer be live; instead current
should be supplied through the ballast. If you can remove the ballast
wire and the car keeps running, somebody has messed with the wires.
The typical indication of a bad ballast resistor is that the car starts
with the starter engaged, then dies when the switch moves to the run
position.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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