blown up coil ??? - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

IROCZman15 · 01-26-2010, 08:40 PM

not sure if this belongs in the "Electrical forum" because i dont know YET that the issue is certainly electric... but

quick few questions in case any of u have delt with an issue like this before..

ok so im driving the car from where i was sanding/grinding down the floorpans ... total distance to travel 6 miles. about 2 miles into it (car was warmed up, but hasnt ran on the road since november). i hear a POP and the car goes dead. i limp over to the curb. look back, no parts in the road. look under. no parks, no leaks, nothing. no smoke. a slight burning smell, kind of electric smell... car will not start again, have it towed the last 4 miles to my apartment. and push it into the garage.

it cranks nice, even, and strong. pulled a plug. appears no spark. use a timing light, no signal at the plug wires. fuel pump runs, i smell fuel from the plug holes. (will do a compression test tomorrow with a buddy). used the paperclip trick at the diagnostic center.. just got code 12. (i think codede 12 is nothing tho)

after talking to a buddy he said sometimes the COIL will actually blow/explode. the pop i heard the second the motor cut off was probably not a backfire, but probably the COIL EXPLODING? i have never heard of this.. is this the case? can this happen?

what do u recomend ? how can i test and verify the coil is blown? volt meter on where and what should it read?.

whats a good coil to buy. what should i replace mine with? whats the cost? msd? its an 1987 TPI 350 crate

the other thing i was thinking is that I have a theft-switch built in. its a button ona wire that i can press to kill the spark so ppl cant hotwire the car. this might have been it... but this setup has been on the car for 22 years and ive never had an issue with it.ever.

ZeroCool8891 · 01-26-2010, 09:24 PM

i honestly think its the coil, when i come down we can try the spare one i have and see what happens.

S.J.SLEEPER · 01-26-2010, 10:02 PM

accel coil or crane hifire i think its called

BonzoHansen · 01-26-2010, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87IROCmadman

after talking to a buddy he said sometimes the COIL will actually blow/explode. the pop i heard the second the motor cut off was probably not a backfire, but probably the COIL EXPLODING? i have never heard of this.. is this the case? can this happen?

Never ever heard of that. Ever.

Look here: http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/84ca...l2.htm#hd1-1-3

WildBillyT · 01-26-2010, 10:11 PM

For grins- Check all of the fuses.

chrisfrom nj · 01-26-2010, 11:43 PM

is it carb or fuel injected do you have the external coil or the hei set up do you have a aftermarket msd set up

ZeroCool8891 · 01-27-2010, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisfrom nj

is it carb or fuel injected do you have the external coil or the hei set up do you have a aftermarket msd set up

he has "its an 1987 TPI 350 crate"

chrisfrom nj · 01-27-2010, 07:33 AM

bad coil or the dist modual went bad

PolarBear · 01-29-2010, 11:52 AM

I heard the module or coil in my grand am pop one day, didnt actually explode though

IROCZman15 · 01-29-2010, 05:28 PM

well to close out this thread.. i did a bunch of diagnosis work on the ignition components today. what the problem turned out to be was... the ignition module. i checked the coil witha volt meter and also pulled the coil off my brothers 1987 GTA (for sale still.. cheap, make an offer) and plugged that in with no luck getting any spark. after taking hte cap off the distributer i checked the volts at a few locations. a mechanic buddy of mine told me to try replacing the ignition module...the rectangular piece sitting on a platform under the rotor. went to NAPA and bought one for $70. came home and plugged it in, car fired up and runs now. i hope this was the only issue. so for now its fixed and running. thank you for the help and advice fellas

BonzoHansen · 01-29-2010, 07:28 PM

That's awesome!

HardcoreZ28 · 02-01-2010, 12:54 PM

Did you put the heat sync gel under the new module? That stuff is VERY important to keep the new one from frying itself.

IROCZman15 · 02-01-2010, 01:03 PM

yea, i spread some of the gel on the electrical connection areas. thx for looking out too though!

edpontiac91 · 02-01-2010, 05:33 PM

A good replacement coil for your stock one is the MSD Blaster. About $50.00 from SummitRacing. Yeah I had my ign mod go at Raceway Park. Had it towed my dealer and found out that there never is a warning when they are about to go. LOL

BonzoHansen · 02-01-2010, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87IROCmadman

yea, i spread some of the gel on the electrical connection areas. thx for looking out too though!

did you put it under the module??

IROCZman15 · 02-02-2010, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

did you put it under the module??

acctually no, i think i mis-read hardcore's post, so that is my fault. i only used the di-electric stuff at the connetions. ive never heard of the heat-sync stuff. what is it? whats it do? and can it be bought anywhere? my old one did not have any in there so i didnt even think of putting anyhtign under the module. ... hmm