85 GSL it stalled out one day and couldn't get it fired up so after checking posts I founf that the trailing igniter was the problem. I changed the leading over to the trailing and it worked fine. Thus a trip to the bone yard where I picked up 2. installed 1 used igniter in the leading and fired her up. drove for about 2 weeks. Yesterday it stalled out again only to find that the trailing igniter was the problem. installed the 2nd igniter and it works fine...What might be zapping my trailing igniter...or is it just time for them ? it has about 190 K. Im afraid to drive it too far.in the event the trailing igniter zaps.

 

I know what you mean. I always have 2 spare ignitors in the car, just in case. Have burned quite a few. Then I decided to revert from dlidfis to stock ignition. Have not burned one since.

Don't have an answer for you really though. I wonder myself what if anything can make an ignitor zap.

 

Could just be coincidence with the 2nd ignitor dieing. You never know with used parts. First, what you should do is clean off the back of the ignitor and the part of the distributor that it attaches to. Then get some heatsink compound (also called thermal grease) from RadioShack or some other electronics/computer repair place. Put a good coating of the heatsink compound on the back of the ignitor and reinstall. Probably is a good idea to do to both ignitors. When the heat sink compound gets old, it dries up and is no longer effective. This causes the ignitor to get hot (since it can't transfer heat to the distributor). The excess heating of the ignitor can damage it.

Once you do that. Check out your coils and make sure the resistance is within spec. Also check over the wiring between the ignitor and the coil (make sure there are no shorts, broken spots, etc.). If you do this, you should no longer have problems. Just keep a couple spare ignitors on hand just in case. You never know when these 20+ year old parts will quit working.

Kent

 

There is nothing abnormal about your stituation. I pesonally think if you let the ignitors sit dormant out in the weather (junkyard) it tends to degrade them. I had a shed with about a half dozen of them still attached to the distributors sitting out there for several years and when I finally needed them, only about 2/3 of them were functioning. It did help to clean the back of them along with the mounting surface on distibutor and then apply dielectric grease (not to get confused w/ heatsink compound but just what I had on hand) before installing.

 

One thing to note here, I think it is probably your leading ignition that is going out on you, not your trailing. You can usually run just fine without trailing ignition, but if you lose the leading you will know it right away.

If you haven't yet, you might want to check out the 2nd gen ignition conversion. Works great!

 

Not exactly true, genius. an 85 will not run without trailing ignition - fuel pump won't work.

 

Thanks for all of the replies...just arrived home from the weekend and I'll grease and check the system some time this week. Yes its true 85's trailing is is same circuit as the tach and fuel relay and thus fuel pump. The 2 igniters which have blown are the old originals. both have been in the trailing position. the two igniters now on the car are from the bone yard which I picked up with a dizzy...They are hard to find up here in the Great White North...they wouldn't sell me just the igniters...had to put out 100 bills for the dizzy!Thats why I''m a little shy to drive until I check out the circuit!

 

I have an 85 1st gen 12a and tach runs off the leading ignitor not the trailing and fuel pump runs on neither trailing nor leading. It is a Australian Delivery might be a little different from other country to country 1st gens. So the tach can either be running on leading or trailing with different models. But the fuel pump runs when the ignition is on and the engine is not running. So I'd say the fuel pump has been hard wired through the ignition somewhere down the track.

 

check ebay, they are going for $15-$20 each

 

Thanks...this is why I drink!

 

i have an 85 and havent had trailing spark for about 3 months now.....(disconnected all that has to do with the trailing) due to coil getting very hot..... ive tried and tried to find problem but it evades me.....anyways since problem started and only running on leading car has been running great,,,,,idle not all that great though.....but power is betterthan i have ever seen i to have.......i hooked up a tach to the leading and it works fine.......until i have a reason to fix it, and i dont, the trialing will remain disconnected

 

FWIW, The fuel injection doesn't work either if you have a GSL-SE. Even if you jumper the fuel pump, injectors are directly wired to the trailing coil. Just in case anyone gets the idea of not using trailing system on it

 

There is a ground wire in the plenum that must stay grounded if you decide to ditch the F/I and run carb.

 

What is wrong with you n00b, bumping old threads around? FYI, a STOCK UNMODIFIED 85 will NOT run without trailing ignition. The fuel pump relay, which depends on trailing ignition to operate, will cause the fuel pump to not get any juice. If the wiring has been modified in your car in any way, such as the relay connector jumped, or runnning the tach off the leading ignition, then it will run. Otherwise it won't.

Oh, and again,

 

rofl, I didn't even notice how old this was