You can't just guess at the value of a capacitor to put across a set
of points, as in the ignition or the fuel pump. The value of the
capacitor must be tuned to work with the inductance of the coil, and
probably any residual resistance, to minimize the spark at the points.
Want an example? My 1980 Jetta, an early model, came equipped with
TWO condensers on the points, an early production error. That should
really soak up the points spark, right? WRONG! It messed up the
tuning, and the points were getting frazzled every few weeks. The car
ran lousy, and the unburned fuel killed the catalyst. Pieces blowing
out the exhaust pipe. VW had a recall to fix this, after I tried to
explain to the dealer several times that two condensers didn't seem
right.
Stu
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