see thread subject:

i ask because the wires from the 'T' connections on the distributor cap are going to the top plugs and the 'L' connections are going to the bottom plugs.

are the top plugs the trailing ones? i always thought it was leading on top, and trailing on the bottom.

also, which coil is the leading coil?

oh, there's more:

it looks liek there's a bit of corrosion in one of the coils. should i replace it?

oh yeah - and replacing the plug wires did help my car run quite a bit better. i'm thinking if i continue to clean out the ignition system and do the atf treatment next time i change my oil, i should be sittin' pretty.

 

The wires need to go to their correct location.

On my 84 –SE the trailing coil has 2 yellow/green wires on the (-) side, the lead has a YL, which if I remember correctly was a yellow with a line.

There is on Ohm test you can do on a warmed up coil to see if it’s any good. Is the corrosion from the wire or is the terminal in the coil corroding?

 

in my '83 GSL, there're two coils: one is close to the front of the car in the engine compartment, and the other is even closer.

the corrosion is a bunch of blue-green dust in the plug where i put the wire that goes to the distributor. not sure if that counts as corrosion, but i'm sure it's not helping current at all. not sure if i'll see an improvement from replacing it.

are there any upgraded coils that i could buy just for the hell of it?

 

The wiring will tell you which coil is which, you can physically mount them in 2 different configurations trail coil at the front or trail coil at the back. Not sure how important it is, but Mazda wired different so I’ve used that, as the indicator of which coil is which.

The coils are upgradeable; I'm still running stock, so I couldn't tell you what kind of improvement you would get. But I'm sure it would be an improvement over the originals.

 

> the corrosion is a bunch of blue-green dust in the plug where i put the wire that goes to the distributor. not sure if that counts as corrosion, but i'm sure it's not helping current at all. not sure if i'll see an improvement from replacing it. <

That build up is caused by high tension wires that don't contact the insides of the cap/coil towers very well. Get new plug wires or tweak them and clean the corrosion really well. Or replace everything.

Some people have upgraded to MSD blaster coils. They have less resistance than the stock Diamond coils. Be carefull to keep the ignitors from burning out.

I personaly have 3 diamond coils wired in DLIDFIS.

 

O.K. was in the garage working on the POS, and I was double-checking the routing of my plug wires. Then it hit me which is T1 and which is T2? Always figured T1 was the forward rotor, closest to the radiator. Am I assuming correctly?

 

The leading plugs are the bottom and the trailing are the top. Easy way to remeber: T=Trailing=Top, L=Leading=Lower

 

Correct, and if you look at the block, the T and L letters should be stamped by the plug holes.

As far as which coil is which... as long as it hasnt been rewired, Trailing is the one toward the front of the car.