New Ignition Coil and Wires Arcing
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 232
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From: Mayfield, KY
New Ignition Coil and Wires Arcing I'm having a hell of a time keeping my new to me '94 Z28 running since I bought it last month. The car randomly lost a lot of power one day so I noticed the Accel ignition coil wire on it was arcing bad where it connects to the MSD coil, so I replaced that with a new Auto Zone wire. It ran great for 20 minutes or so, but then started sputtering and missing and died once I drove down the road. Swapped back the arcing Accel, and it fired right up and drove home. Several days later, the car wouldn't crank again so I could move it in my driveway so I let it sit.
Fast forward to tonight, I've got a new MSD coil wire on it and the car still wouldn't crank. Well I had already bought a new AC Delco coil with those Autozone wires that I returned, so I just removed the MSD unit to install the ACD, and the engine fired right up for the first time in a week tonight in the 17 degree weather. Well it seems to idle and rev just fine sitting in the driveway for 20 minutes straight (the same way that autozone coil wire did before I drove off with it), but I just looked at the coil and turned my flashlight off as the engine is idling, and I can see the new coil along with the new MSD wire all arcing very very faintly. And if I touch the MSD wire, the arcing will start showing on my fingertips anywhere I touch the wire.
What could be causing this? This car is just stressing me out and I'm too scared to even drive it down the road for fear of getting stranded again and having to have it towed back.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Fast forward to tonight, I've got a new MSD coil wire on it and the car still wouldn't crank. Well I had already bought a new AC Delco coil with those Autozone wires that I returned, so I just removed the MSD unit to install the ACD, and the engine fired right up for the first time in a week tonight in the 17 degree weather. Well it seems to idle and rev just fine sitting in the driveway for 20 minutes straight (the same way that autozone coil wire did before I drove off with it), but I just looked at the coil and turned my flashlight off as the engine is idling, and I can see the new coil along with the new MSD wire all arcing very very faintly. And if I touch the MSD wire, the arcing will start showing on my fingertips anywhere I touch the wire.
What could be causing this? This car is just stressing me out and I'm too scared to even drive it down the road for fear of getting stranded again and having to have it towed back.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 232
Likes: 0
From: Mayfield, KY
Also I'm wondering if maybe I did something incorrect with installing the coil and that's what's causing it to arc? I kind of rushed the install because I'm tired and it's super cold outside tonight so I just wanted to see if the new coil would make a difference before calling it quits for the night.
It came with these two little brackets but with no instructions and I can't find any info about what they're for online so I didn't use them and just reused the bolts from the MSD coil since the original rivets had already been drilled out. Being that the OEM unit is gone, I didn't have anything to go off of to compare the new one it to
Untitled by Josh McClure, on Flickr
Edit: So after more reading on the subject, I've read that this could be something called the Corona effect and that it's normal? I know it's a very faint blue glow around the coil and it also does it where the coil wire plugs into the opti. Not to mention the coil wire itself doing it wherever I touch it. It's definitely different from the arcing that the old coil wire did with that MSD coil, which was a loud popping with a spark. Whereas this one is just a blue glow
It came with these two little brackets but with no instructions and I can't find any info about what they're for online so I didn't use them and just reused the bolts from the MSD coil since the original rivets had already been drilled out. Being that the OEM unit is gone, I didn't have anything to go off of to compare the new one it to
Untitled by Josh McClure, on FlickrEdit: So after more reading on the subject, I've read that this could be something called the Corona effect and that it's normal? I know it's a very faint blue glow around the coil and it also does it where the coil wire plugs into the opti. Not to mention the coil wire itself doing it wherever I touch it. It's definitely different from the arcing that the old coil wire did with that MSD coil, which was a loud popping with a spark. Whereas this one is just a blue glow
Last edited by LT11996; Dec 20, 2016 at 09:00 AM.
Rotor Phasing Many things can cause this to happen, wire quality is one.
I designed the Fire Core 50/250 wire, use this wire.
If you want a "sample" for you HT wire, just send me a USPS "padded" label.
Please state length required.
One common problem is Rotor Phasing.
The incorrect "index" can raise the HT Voltage needed to jump the plug gap.
I have a CO-2 plug test chamber, yes the corona effect IS common.
Did you use wire grease ?
That Silicon Grease use will DOUBLE the "arc over" resistance.
Installation of the wire into the coil, the depth, not being correct could be a cause.
Lance
I designed the Fire Core 50/250 wire, use this wire.
If you want a "sample" for you HT wire, just send me a USPS "padded" label.
Please state length required.
One common problem is Rotor Phasing.
The incorrect "index" can raise the HT Voltage needed to jump the plug gap.
I have a CO-2 plug test chamber, yes the corona effect IS common.
Did you use wire grease ?
That Silicon Grease use will DOUBLE the "arc over" resistance.
Installation of the wire into the coil, the depth, not being correct could be a cause.
Lance
