Technical Did I Roast The Ignition Coil?

Ok, through an extremely unlikely series of events... ah, well.... dumb stupid move on my part, I left the ignition switch in the RUN position for about 15 minutes or so after getting distracted. To add insult I was charging the battery back up at the same time and couldn't figure out why it wasn't drawing down on the amps. Yeesh.

The Ignitor seems OK, they pretty much either work or they don't, and it starts and idles OK (haven't driven it) but the coil, an epoxy filled type called the Flamethrower by Pertronix was real hot, naturally. The oil filled type will spill their guts in this situation, but I'm not sure what happens with these.

It still works, at least when cold, but I'm wondering if the insulation was burned off the windings, the outer casing was too hot to touch for any length of time though not sizzle or griddle hot. In just a few minutes though it got hotter than ever in operation afaik, which is pretty dang toasty after a hard run.

They are only $35 or $40, so not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things but. Whattaya think, anyway to tell?

 

I'd replace it and see what happens.

 

If the car still starts, chances are good the coil is OK..... Those epoxy-filled units are pretty tough. 15 minutes isn't a terribly long time.

 

I would say your coil is still OK.
Drive the car around the neighborhood for a while.
Epoxy filled coils are pretty hardy as stated before and should be fine.
KK

 

That's what I figured, tho their literature states the oil-filled coils have better cooling, the epoxy-filled for are designed for off road or high vibration apps like boats. I always carry a spare coil in the glovebox excepting this was the spare.

 

15 minutes isn't very long, and they get some hot under the hood. It has likely been just as hot lots of times before but you didn't know it.

 

Well the 15 minutes was a guess tho the coil was definitely very hot. I took a load of leaves and brush to the yard waste site today, and seemed to run fine. We'll just call it "broke in" now, lol

 

You are lucky that you didn't fry the Ignitor module. I left my ignition switch on for probably half an hour and the module got fried. A great (and less expensive) coil for the Ignitor module is the Napa IC12SB. It's only $20 and is a good 1.5ohm coil. GMC Bubba recommended this coil to me and I have been very happy with its performance.

 

Thanks for the tip, I like NAPA they seem to be one of the few outlets left around here with at least some graybeards and they make an obvious effort to sell better or at least reasonable quality parts. edit: it's $37.80 at their website. Hm.

The situation with the ignitor is the same as with points basically. If contact points happen to be closed when ignition is inadvertantly left ON (without the engine running) they will get torched. With the ignitor, it's a matter if the magnet happens to be aligned with the module.

 

I'd say you FRIED the coil.

 

Fried, roasted, BBQ? Dunno. Seems to run OK. Shorted turns in the secondary can be tough to spot sometimes, that's why I asked. The spark is "ok", but attenuated. Meaning it's not as fat or last as long. They can still measure in the ballpark for ohms.

 

I always keep a spare coil in the trunk, even if it's an old used one just to get me home.
Last year at the body shop after my car was painted, I was ***embling my tail lights and turn signals and left the key on for about 15-20 minutes so I could check the that lights functioned. On my way home from the shop the car died and I had to get towed home. Sure enough, the coil was fried.