underpowered igniton?

[ZackTheImpaler]

So my starter went out and while diagnosing what was up I noticed my ignition coil was dumping oil. So I bought a new one and it was a significant amount smaller, the brand is Wells and the part #c840.

 

The engine is an l20 with a weber outlaw 38/38. Seems to sputter pretty bad since the change.

 

Still haven't replaced the starter, I just bump start her!

[banzai510(hainz)]

YOu assume the a 1980 uses a EI coil. If its a EI coil its should be fine.

If you bought a POINT coil that say external ballast needed it will get HOT and cook inside as its not designed for a full 12-14volts.

Most people get get a MSD Blaster 2 but the stovk Nissan ones for that year should work.

 

I would ck under dizzy cap for cracks or water bad plug wires

[ZackTheImpaler]

Yes its an EI. I should have went the blaster route but didn't. Thanks for giving me things to look into hainz!

[datzenmike]

The stock coil is just as good. Just paint it red.

[ZackTheImpaler]

I wanted the stock coil noone had one. Guy said this one was the stock but its physically smaller.

 

Well on this subject would there be a need for a higher power ignition coil for a higher RPM engine? In that case I would need a new distributor too correct?

 

I mean like 8000+ rpm. Not that I would be doing that anytime soon but it is the plan

And I don't know enough about the ignition system.

[banzai510(hainz)]

A stock coil for that year/model should be fine.

 

I think your over engineering this!

a L motor is hard to get accurate timming after about 7k. I mean this would be a perfect dialed in Dizzy with new worm gear/spindal

 

 

fix the starter/or buy another

[datsunaholic]

Stock coil is fine even if you're going well past redline. Think about it- the stock coil is really no different than the one used in a 6-cyl Datsun of the same year. If it's good to 7000 on a 6-cyl, it'll be good to 10500 on a 4-cyl. Your valve springs are going to be the limiting factor here.

[ZackTheImpaler]

There is a lot more than valves limiting that right now haha!

 

I was just curious if I got one that didn't have enough power. I would have prefered stock but didn't have one. I'm not talking on a performance level just it seems like it doesn't ignite as smoothly as the stock one.

 

So the answer is no that ignition coil isn't the problem?

 

Distributor looks good under the cap.

 

Guess its time to look at the carb.

 

 

Stock coil is fine even if you're going well past redline. Think about it- the stock coil is really no different than the one used in a 6-cyl Datsun of the same year. If it's good to 7000 on a 6-cyl, it'll be good to 10500 on a 4-cyl. Your valve springs are going to be the limiting factor here.

[banzai510(hainz)]

ck the valve lash?

 

put old coil back in,DONE

[Spades]

Wells electronics are absolute junk. Their gold line distributor caps and rotors are good, stay away from everything else. Our shop had a 38% failure rate (maybe a little higher, a short while after our parts supplier switched to wells as their main brand, I quit tracking it and started buying other brands) with new Wells distributors, coils, ect. right out of the box.

 

I am in agreement with mike. My experience says in many cars you gain some zip with a hotter coil, on these cars you don't need a high powered ignition. I have Flamethrower ignition coils by Pertronix, and all they do is munch through a premium rotor and ignition cap in a few thousand miles(and if I have a lower quality cap, they will arc through the uncovered rivet on the center rotor for the inner bank of cylinders). Sure, it is nice to see a pretty spark jump as far as a spark tester can back off, but it is hard on ignition parts, doesn't seem to give anymore power, and costs more money in the long run(what I have spent on tune up parts after 3 early replacements I could have purchased the OEM coils with).

 

Go with a quality Japanese coil if you can not find or afford a factory Nissan part. My suggestion would be to go with the OEM(oem, meaning Nippon Denso, Hitachi, or whoever made the part and sold it to Nissan) part through Worldpac or a CarQuest dealer that sources from them, or the Altrom line from Napa(we had decent success rate), or the Beck Arnley brand(provided it is one of the many coils that they buy from the OEM, and not a cheap Chinese part. Most of their stuff is OEM, the stuff that isn't is junk). Stay away from Chinese built ignition parts(which includes most of Wells line up), and if no auto parts store locally has that coil, sometimes AC Delco makes ignition parts for our cars and trucks, might not hurt to track down a part # and call your local GM parts dealer or B&B auto to see if one is readily available and in your price range. If you still can't find anything local, don't forget to check Rock Auto Parts, or send me a PM, I can most likely track something down.

 

note: normally if you replace a part and symptoms get worse, it was the part you replaced it with causing the extra problems, especially when you are dealing with aftermarket parts. 5 years of tracking parts down for a auto repair shop that used aftermarket parts but wanted to keep a 12 month warranty on everything requires you to be picky about aftermarket parts manufacturers...because most aftermarket parts now are made CHEAP!

[zed]

Have you checked the other parts of your ignition? A faulty capacitor will give the same symptoms as you describe. Also plug wires, plugs?

[datsunaholic]

I would wonder why the old coil fried... and if that problem still exists, causing your new problem. Like an overcharging alternator, or one that's putting AC voltage out due to a bad rectifier. Or maybe you just had the wrong (non-EI) coil. Not to say they don't go bad all on their own, but it's rare.

 

Zed, there isn't a capacitor on a EI system. That's a points thing. Well, actually there's one on the alternator for radio noise suppression (or supposed to be).

[albyneau]

So my starter went out and while diagnosing what was up I noticed my ignition coil was dumping oil. So I bought a new one and it was a significant amount smaller, the brand is Wells and the part #c840.

 

The engine is an l20 with a weber outlaw 38/38. Seems to sputter pretty bad since the change.

 

Still haven't replaced the starter, I just bump start her!

 

Never tried this myself to observe the outcome, or done it accidentally~ but is it possible you hooked up the coil backwards? I heard this is a symptom of a reverse polarity install.... If your symptoms arose immediately after coil swap then it could only be the coil~ whether bad, miswired, etc...

 

or some coincidental simultaneous failure of another component~

[ZackTheImpaler]

The old one was slowly taking a crap. Leaking a little at a time. When my starter started going out I checked everything to diagnose the problem, and just happend to notice that at the same time.

 

I feel that its just a crappy coil. It was only 20 bucks, and I'm not familiar with the Wells brand.

 

Its not hooked up backwards. It works, and works better after its warmed up for awhile. I'm just going to snag one the next time I junkyard hop.