Electronic Ignition Confusion and Clarifications

amcdonald

amcdonald

Active Member
Hello

i am trying to do my 1969 3500S NADA rebuild cam break in so starting the car is required. I installed a Powerspark ignition and got a DLB198 coil with it measuring 1.1ohm. Now, I just connected it up as it was with points. Also in the mix is the new lightweight starter motor (higher power) I got that does not have the 12V wire connector to the coil. So there is no such feed of 12v during starting.

upon cranking I have a piddling spark out of the coil and almost nothing at all at the spark plug. I am trying to avoid endlessly cranking and grinding away my new camshaft so I got to investigating this topic. Please correct me if I am wrong, or add info that I am missing, but this is my understanding:

1. My new system needs a continuous 12V supply that will not be provided by the standard wiring with the “resistive” cable from the ignition. Also the fact that the starter does not have the 12v output means it’s even worse as there is no boost on cranking.
2. I need to rewire to bypass the resistive cable to get 12v at the coil - but I am not sure what else needs to happen
3. My rev counter is now useless and requires a converter board aarrggh

What about the wire from the starter? Is this now redundant?

adrian
 
According to the spec in the blurb here Powerspark Electronic Ignition Kit for Lucas 35D Distributor (K3x & R5)
Your ignition requires a 12 v feed as you have stated, along with this you need a non ballasted 12v coil with 3.0 Ohms resistance.
As you should now have a constant 12 v feed to the coil, a shunt from the starter is no longer required, so you may tape that wire up.
Out of the two wires that originally went to coil + one was a ballasted feed and the other was the 12v from the starter, they joined together at the coil.
You now need a switched 12v supply.
I run mine from the 12v washer bottle feed, I know which fuse it is on at the fusebox, I have never had an issue with it.
The rev counter can be converted with an add on board, or you can look for the other model to suit electronic ign.
Other folks may suggest running a new 12v feed from either fusebox or ign switch.
 
Hi

thanks. That is largely what I came to realize from my research in the forum, but I have the complete Powerspark distributor which has a different coil spec to the add on kit you mentioned. As I picked it from the drop down choices when buying the distributor I think it’s the right one so at least that’s one thing not screwed up. As my washer jets are not even piped up, and will not be in the future, your suggestion sounds ideal. And I think the (New) washer motor got instantaneously buggered after I wired it up as well, so that’s not doing any washing duties......
 
It appears there are two sorts of distributor from PS, and they need differing coils, if you are unsure what coil you need and supply voltage ping them an email. I cannot think of another reason other than mis matched voltage / coil / distributor for your problem.

About Points, Electronic and High Energy Distributors from Powerspark Ignition:
Traditional Points Distributors:
The traditional ignition system used in most cars up until the 1980s.
- To be used with a Standard or Sports ignition coil, resistance reading above 1.4 ohms. OK to use copper HT Leads.
Sports Electronic Ignition Distributors:
Looks like an original points distributor but contains an electronic ignition module that uses a magnetic pickup instead of contact breaker points.
- To be used with a Standard or Sports ignition coil, resistance reading above 1.4 ohms. Not suitable for use with copper HT Leads
High Energy Electronic Ignition Distributors:
Looks like an original points distributor but contains an electronic ignition module capable of 3x the spark of sports electronic ignition.
- To be used with a High Energy ignition coil, resistance reading below 1.4 ohms. Not suitable for use with copper HT Leads
 
Just out of curiosity anyone know the actual specified resistance of the ballast wire (not a separate ballast unit) in a P6?
 
Hi

Yes - I think that's a good idea. Their web site is not that explanatory and I came across the same description and it did not exactly leave me any more confident!
 
I won't go into the full story but suffice to say more crankshaft and lifter grinding has occurred during yet more fruitless cranking after motor rebuild and what appears to be still weak / intermittent spark issues. I will just ask one question for now and that is what battery voltage at the coil is acceptable during cranking (Powerspark ignition)?
 
amcdonald said:
I will just ask one question for now and that is what battery voltage at the coil is acceptable during cranking (Powerspark ignition)?
Click to expand...

If you're worried about low voltage at the coil during cranking being your problem you could use a fully charged slave battery with Positive wired to the ignition side of the coil and Negative clipped to Earth and see if that cures it. That way any voltage drop on the car's battery won't affect the voltage that you have at the coil.
 
Per HP6 I ended up hooking up a special battery for the coil only, just to rule out the somewhat low voltage when cranking. But in the end the wire from the washer motor was perfectly fine and there was no voltage issue. One of the lessons here is that you also need fuel to start, and it is a bit ridiculous but there probably was never a spark problem at all. Theres a lesson here about solving problems that don't exist. Actually I changed the coil early on "just in case" and the new coil had a different HT contact position down into the socket, and so it was not even connected to the distributor. That was not a positive step. Never having really examined a spark when cranking it was just weedier than I thought it should be, and when cranking there are not really too many sparks per second. Actually once the engine was started then I checked out the spark and it was huge. Also it is the first time I have seen such a steady timing mark, with the Powerspark distributor electronic ignition now in place. I will write a separate post about the other shenanigans involved with the start up in case anyone might be tempted to make as many muppet mistakes as me........
 
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