Points and Condensers Failing

By the way
in tne secondary pattern above read points open where it says "control module stops coil primary current"
and where it says "control module allows current to flow" read points closed
I'm guessing I didn't need to post that.

 

Yes, noticed that Rick.

Anyway, bizarre situation with Harry’s points/condenser. He’s been running fine again the last couple of days. New points and second hand condenser. I wonder how long they’ll last. I’ll double check the coil as to whether it’s the ballast type, but pretty sure it’s not as I researched that at the time.

 

There's one more thing.
put a volt meter on your alternator (not the battery)and drive your kombi like you stole it (hi rpm)
If the voltage is excessive (over 15.5), that could cause premature points failure.

funny that secondary pattern is of a points system not a transistor assisted ignition system

 

I haven’t seen over 13.91 V on the Bluetooth meter. I bought that at Supercheap Auto. Heres a pic of what I see on the phone albeit Harry is out in the car park right now so no BT connection

 

stick the sensor wire on the alternator (just a bit up stream). Not saying it'll make much diff.

If you've got burnt points there's only a few culprits. To much current flow (not enough resistance). to much voltage (over 15v) usually caused by the alternator. Cactus condenser (should be 19 to 22 uf 250 to 300v). Point contacts not made from tungsten (if you can file it down it's not tungsten). end of story.

 

I still can’t work out what’s wrong with the points though. I’ve seen much worse points that work fine. And the resistance through them closed was max 0.2 ohms. Perhaps a poor joint that was only causing significant voltage drop with current flow and perhaps an associated hotspot after warm???? Frustrating when this sort of thing happens.

 

Ok
what about if not high enough voltage is getting to your coil (ign switch), lower voltage can cause higher current (12v 3a = 36w, 8v 4.5a =36w)
Points and ignition switch start over heating.
Long shot

 

Rick may be onto something here. Hard to believe 2,k does decent points & condenser. Switch $20 or thereabouts & if not the problem you've got the spare you'll need sometime. I've a spare if you wish to borrow.

& after this we'll go back to discussing Harry's heat problem.
Cheers

 

Is it possible that it could be a bad negative somewhere? Maybe the earth strap from the chassis to the gearbox?

I had a problem recently where a bad earth was reducing the voltage to my coil and giving me a really weak spark. It made it almost impossible to start too. The earth strap from the battery to the chassis, and from the chassis to the gearbox both looked good but obviously needed a decent clean. It was super frustrating for a while.

I know how frustrating it can be! . Probably not your problem but doesn’t hurt to check and it’s an easy one. Clutching at straws Chris.

 

All good ideas for things to check, thanks guys.

 

Another thought on this. Were the points opening or had they closed up due to lack of a spot of grease on the cam, did you check the dwell again when it wouldn't start? If this is all good is the coil a ballast resistor type (this will be shown on the coil base) if so these coils operate on a reduced voltage (usually 8-9 volts) and as stated before in this post another terminal on the coil supplies 12v from the ign switch for easy starting and this is then bypassed to allow the ballast resistor to do its job.

 

Yes, the points were opening. The dwell was set at about 44 degrees when I installed them new and it was 48 degrees when I was having these issues. It’s a new coil I bought from Vintage VW late last year. I think it was Beru brand. I did check everything was right when I opened the box and it seemed right.

 

I’ll double check. Hopefully I can find the box.

 

I just checked the resistance of the points we took out and they seem to work properly. Open circuit when points open. 0.3 Ohm or less when closed.

Really weird though that it seems to fix the problem when they were changed when they seem to work fine.

Perhaps the earth wire from the advance plate to the body is dodgy and when changing the points we’ve disturbed it and made it work again. But it looks fine. I don’t know; just fishing for an explanation.

 

When it's not obvious this thinking can make sense. Seems consensus is earth or voltage & a bit random. Perhaps some mileage will show on the new points & give direction of failure???
I'm sticking to the condenser stuff & why the excess is ending up there as to how to find the answer? Both points & condenser dealing with more than they have to. Do a 100km & see what info the points give?
Cheers

 

100 km? Already drove from Eden to home with the new points; about 600 km! No hint of another problem so far.