Coil arcing, please help
 

The leading coil is arcing, from the terminals to the post. During a lapse in intelligence I put the wrong color posts on the battery, then a friend installed a new battery and of course connected black with black and POOF.

Replaced the MSD box, coil, wire and all the wires in between, also the fusible link. The car starts and idles, but the idle speed it unstable and of course it is arcing. I tried to take a picture at night, it looks pretty cool but it didn't come out.

Anyone ever do this? I expect not since it is a pretty retarded thing to do. But can anyone offer any help?

I want to get this car up and running so I can run some nitrous through it and blow it up. :D

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I feel like a total moron but I can't fix it so I need help.

Usually, arcing from the coil is due to a faulty wire (from the coil to the cap) or a cracked tower on the coil. Dialectric grease applied around the end of the boot can sometimes help seal things up.

There are probably one or two hundred other possibilities, but this is all I can think of. Good luck! :)

I will try that, and another friend said that he had a problem with the coil arcing and he replaced the wire and had no problem.

Earlier I switched the wires and the same thing was happening, maybe the boot is not tight enough. Regardless, I am going to smother it with the grease and cram in on there, I will let you know what happens.

Thanks for the suggestion!!

Update: The coil has more dielectric grease on it than a porn stars ass, still arcing. I took pictures of the set up and will post them tomorrow.

The tach is jumping also, so something might be amiss with the trailing coil setup too. There are a couple of wires that are loose, that doesn't seem right, but I have never had an MSD setup before.

Are there specific things I should take a picture of that would help?

i had the same problem. changed the coil wire and everything worked great

I changed the wire, well switched the leading and trailing, and still the same problem. I have another set so I will try those out tomorrow. Changed the cap and rotor also, what else can I replace?

Did you try changing the coil? It is most probably defective. I had the same problem and putting a new coil fixed everyting.

If you dont have a spare, try swapping the coils of place before you go out any buy one.

Here is what I have changed:

Coil
Coil wire
MSD box
MSD wiring
Dist. cap and rotor
Fusible link

Still arcing, will post pics later, have to go to a meeting this morning :)

Here ya go!! Hope this helps.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...chmentid=77098https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...chmentid=77099

Bumpski.

Car starts and idles, but it fluctuates. What would cause the leading coil to arc and the tach to bounce? Would having the leading and trailing coils mixed up do that?

Trying to exhaust all possibilities, I am stumped.

check the resistance in the plug wires and close up the gap on the spark pluge to 25 thousands.....your leading and trailing coil wires might be switched, sas the trailing is where the tach gets its signal from......

Thanks Robert, total newbie question: Is the leading coil toward the front of the car or the one closest to the firewall?

Will check the resistance tonight, leaving for Atlanta tomorrow morning though, so I won't post results till Monday. The resistance should be extremely low right?

Thanks again.

Haynes manual states high tension cord(plug wire)resistance should not exceed 16,000 ohms + or - 40% per meter. Page 112.

Where is it arching to? is it arching from the coil to the body? where at on the body? what is you voltage with the car running? what is your voltage with the car off? I believe your problem may be one of your igniters, but more data is needed. Also, does un-plugging any of the spark plug wires NOT change how it runs(leading)? Also, check fusible links.

dennis

Front coil is trailing, rear is leading. Your supposed to put the grease on the tower (high tension) connection. Anyway, try cleaning the tower. You may already have a carbon track and that will make it continue to arc. I had a Blaster 2 coil start arcing and I never could get it to stop. I ended up replacing it.

So the battery got hokked up backwards, and then this started? How are you triggering your MSD? With or w/o the igniter? Also have you checked that you havent smoked the diodes in the alternator?

It's arcing between the tower and both terminals, I forgot to add that. I have already switched the coil, same problem.

I will switch the alternator when I get back this weekend. It sounds like it is arcing there too, so what you said makes sense. The MSD is direct through the dist. cap, no ignitor if memory serves right. Will take more pics later.

Did you figure it out? Im having the same problem

Welcome to the board. :)

it is great that you have searched and found this thread. however, just so you know, since you are a brand new member, you have the option of using the New Member Tech forum, and you're totally allowed to post a NEW thread about your issue there.

doesn't look like he has logged in for about 5 years ....

it might help to say what you have checked/changed so far? have you run through the list of ideas already discussed above? i quickly glanced through the thread and i don't think i saw anyone ask if the plugs themselves were changed? so maybe add that to the list???

This can happen if you forget to put the rotor in the distributor. Otherwise it's most likely a poor electrical seal at the coils.

I have some Magnacore coil wires and the coil cap fits a bit loosely, so it was sparking a little.

I fixed it with a little silicone in the coil joint to the wires.

That was my antitheft system when i drove my SE semi regularly. Parking outside a restaurant-where i couldn't see it or a movie theater,i felt better with the rotor in my pocket. And,yes i have had more than one car stolen. One Mustang and one Shelby. Neither were out of sight for more than 1/2 hr. They were easy to steal as far as getting them started-no ignition column lock. That's when i started taking rotors out and with me. Have a better setup in my SE,real simple to add on when i did my DFI conversion. One connection and that car won't start,can't be hotwired,would have to towed away to steal it.

Rereading this thread 15 years later, this issue now sounds like insufficient grounding of the engine. If the ground connection is bad, the electricals will take any other route to escape their dead end trajectory...

off topic, i know ... but, i had to comment anyway ...

i used to do the same thing with my cars. however, i lived amongst a different type of savage. i still have the rotor from my very first car that they ... stole anyway! :(