Coil slosh?

[Ford F834]

Brand new coil... should it slosh when you shake it? Both of the OEM ones I have do not.

The back story:

On Friday my ‘81 left me on the side of the road. I went to kingman to buy a used table saw and it was running rough and would not climb a 6% grade (empty) without downshifting. I pressed on because I wanted the saw and many others on the Facebook group were interested. On my way home I’d started to cut out and then died and would not restart. I was in a bad spot on the I-40 on ramp, I popped the hood but I couldn’t see anything obvious. I was able to start it, but it was still cutting out and running rough. The only change was I had jiggled the horse shoe connector on the coil. I got it into a parking lot and swapped out the coil with a spare I had under the seat. I cleaned the contacts and applied dielectric grease. It ran much better but it still isn’t right. It didn’t cut out but was still a bit rough and had no power in high gear. Today I am replacing the ICM and the coil. If that does not do it my suspicions will turn to the distributor pick up.

When I bought the coil I asked for the earlier type with threaded lugs instead of the slip on horse shoe contacts. I don’t like that arrangement, it’s just not all that secure. I will be putting eyelet connectors on the wires. But neither of my old ones sloshed. Is my replacement coil defective?

[Gary Lewis]

I've never heard a coil slosh. I think that one may be suspect. I'd take that one back and see if the others they have slosh.

But if it is still running rough you have other problems. I'm guessing the module/ICM is the issue.

[Dorsai]

Brand new coil... should it slosh when you shake it? Both of the OEM ones I have do not.

I bought a new coil a couple of months ago, and it sloshed - and it's on the truck now running fine. The old one (which was also running fine when I pulled it, and is now my spare) sloshes as well.

 

[Ford F834]

Brand new coil... should it slosh when you shake it? Both of the OEM ones I have do not.

I bought a new coil a couple of months ago, and it sloshed - and it's on the truck now running fine. The old one (which was also running fine when I pulled it, and is now my spare) sloshes as well.

Thanks. That’s good to know. I’ll give it a try and see what it does. Gary, I am also putting in a new module. Normally I don’t like to change more than one thing at a time but in this case I just need it fixed. The truck = our water supply... hopefully it will be fixed.

[85lebaront2]

I've never heard a coil slosh. I think that one may be suspect. I'd take that one back and see if the others they have slosh.

But if it is still running rough you have other problems. I'm guessing the module/ICM is the issue.

I'll bet the Mopar one does, they were still oil filled into the mid to late 70s. The important thing on a coil, it HAS to match the type of ignition system, ie a breaker point coil will not work properly on electronic ignition and the higher output ignition coils may destroy the electronics if the system wasn't made for them.

[Gary Lewis]

I'll bet the Mopar one does, they were still oil filled into the mid to late 70s.

I'll take your word for it, Bill. Haven't had it off for yonks.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'll bet the Mopar one does, they were still oil filled into the mid to late 70s. The important thing on a coil, it HAS to match the type of ignition system, ie a breaker point coil will not work properly on electronic ignition and the higher output ignition coils may destroy the electronics if the system wasn't made for them.

Poly Clorinated Biphenyl's are great, aren't they?

Mounting the coil vertically means the fluid won't leak all over the place.

Absolutely, the primary resistance has to be compatible with the switching mechanism.

I've never had a problem with the horseshoe clip, but did have the ground wire break internally from vibration.

I couldn't figure a good way to solder it without melting the brass out of the plastic it was molded into, so I bought a new one for $4.

[Ford F834]

I'll bet the Mopar one does, they were still oil filled into the mid to late 70s. The important thing on a coil, it HAS to match the type of ignition system, ie a breaker point coil will not work properly on electronic ignition and the higher output ignition coils may destroy the electronics if the system wasn't made for them.

What is the difference in these coils? When I converted the old 240 straight six to electronic ignition I left the old coil on it. I just now changed the coil in my ‘81 to a threaded lug unit that I asked for as a 1966 F100 spec and it runs as it did before. If it is bad for some reason I will change back.

The update is that the new coil and new ignition module made zero change. It is still rough, especially under load and has no power.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I'll bet the Mopar one does, they were still oil filled into the mid to late 70s. The important thing on a coil, it HAS to match the type of ignition system, ie a breaker point coil will not work properly on electronic ignition and the higher output ignition coils may destroy the electronics if the system wasn't made for them.

What is the difference in these coils? When I converted the old 240 straight six to electronic ignition I left the old coil on it. I just now changed the coil in my ‘81 to a threaded lug unit that I asked for as a 1966 F100 spec and it runs as it did before. If it is bad for some reason I will change back.

The update is that the new coil and new ignition module made zero change. It is still rough, especially under load and has no power.

Rough under load could be spark, but it could be fuel. Have you put a spark tester on to see what color the spark is?

If it is spark, it could be the wires. Under load the pressure goes up in the cylinders and that makes it harder to jump the gap in the plugs. So the voltage builds and sometimes finds another way to ground - out of the wire.

And you've not changed out the pickup in the dizzy?

But your fuel pump could be failing. Less likely than spark, but a possibility.

[Ford F834]

Rough under load could be spark, but it could be fuel. Have you put a spark tester on to see what color the spark is?

If it is spark, it could be the wires. Under load the pressure goes up in the cylinders and that makes it harder to jump the gap in the plugs. So the voltage builds and sometimes finds another way to ground - out of the wire.

And you've not changed out the pickup in the dizzy?

But your fuel pump could be failing. Less likely than spark, but a possibility.

Hmmm, I don’t have a spark tester Gary. I might have to pick one up. The wires are relatively new. I replaced a lot of things when I had the random stalling problem before. The pick up in the distributor is just as it was when David sent it to me. The fuel pump was also replaced around that time (trying to track down the problem) so it’s less than a year old. Not that ~that means anything with the quality of parts house replacements... but it is recent. The carb is just a JY take-off, and is on my suspect list... but the intermittent cutting in and out really seems electrical. When it died and didn’t want to restart I pulled the air cleaner and moved the throttle linkage. I had fuel jets so I moved on to checking the ignition related wires.