I've read that the front coil is supposed to go to the leading plugs... will it run if they are reversed... mine are switched. The front is going to the top plugs and the back coil is going to the bottom plugs. I dont know if someone got the wires wrong, or if someone put the coils in the wrong place

 

I wonder who is giving out bad advice around here?

Your front coil is supposed to go to the top plugs. If your ignitor wires are also reversed, then you've got a problem, my newbie friend.

 

When I performed a tune-up on my new to me '85 GSL-SE, I found that my friend who owned the car before me had crossed the coil wires going into the distributor cap. The car ran ok, the idle was low, 600 RPM and then it would creep up to 900 RPM and then back down the 600 RPM, there was a slight hesitation when laying into the throttle in neutral. Idle was also a bit on the rough side. I corrected the wiring while I was changing the wires and plugs. I started the car up and it played with itself for a few seconds and then purred like a kitten at 800 RPM.

 

Ummmm... coil wires go to the distributor, not to the plugs. You might want to have another look at your coil wire location.

If you look at where the coils are mounted, the Leading coil is located toward the front of the car, with the Trailing coil located toward the rear (they are side by side, obviously). The coil leads go to the top of the distributor, one to the center electrode, and the other to an offset electrode. From there, the 4 plug wires are branched off to the appropriate plugs - which are marked on the top of the distributor as L1/T1, and L2/T2. The Rotor #1 is to the front, with Rotor #2 at the rear.

If your engine is running at all, I think you've got both coils and plugs routed correctly. My thinking is that the ignition firing with the offset coil would not even start, much less idle or run at all. Timing is a critical issue for any internal combustion engine.

If it ain't broke - don't fix it! HTH,