ignition trouble
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Joined: Feb 2005
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From: GA
ignition trouble
alright, this is for all your electrical freaks
my 76 f100 just toasted its 3rd aftermarket coil in less than 6 months. Its the big fat yellow accel coil you can buy at most parts houses. The thing is, the first one i had i put on back in 2000 or so, and it went bad late last fall, now im on my third one and it just wnt out. They just quit working?? tonight i washe dmy motor and put some new tall valve covers on it(my roller rockers were hitting the stock sized ones). But anyway after i washed it it cranked up and ran for about 30 seconds, then it cut off, and acted like it was running out of gas, like it would run less and less each time it cranked it until i got nothing. WEell i put my spare on it and its fine. So would yall have any clue what would be making my coils go
i think it might have something to do wth the wiring on the truck because i do have a small drain on the battery and if i leave the ignition on like listening to the radio the coil gets warm? i have never beem able to figure out whats causing the battery drain?? jus thought i throw this out and see if anyone has some opinions about it 
my 76 f100 just toasted its 3rd aftermarket coil in less than 6 months. Its the big fat yellow accel coil you can buy at most parts houses. The thing is, the first one i had i put on back in 2000 or so, and it went bad late last fall, now im on my third one and it just wnt out. They just quit working?? tonight i washe dmy motor and put some new tall valve covers on it(my roller rockers were hitting the stock sized ones). But anyway after i washed it it cranked up and ran for about 30 seconds, then it cut off, and acted like it was running out of gas, like it would run less and less each time it cranked it until i got nothing. WEell i put my spare on it and its fine. So would yall have any clue what would be making my coils go
i think it might have something to do wth the wiring on the truck because i do have a small drain on the battery and if i leave the ignition on like listening to the radio the coil gets warm? i have never beem able to figure out whats causing the battery drain?? jus thought i throw this out and see if anyone has some opinions about it
Senior User
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 353
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From: Bayonne NJ
I have had bad experience the Accel coils, and so have several friends of mine. I had one on my F100 and I was having the oddest problems. The coil was practicaly brand new so I replaced everything around it. Wires, Cap, Module, wiring, plugs, even intake and carb. Couldn't figure it out so I took it to a shop. It now has a 12 dollar generic coil on it. I wont buy another Accel part.
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Its Comin Right for us!
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From: GA
i just odnt get it because i ran one without a problem for around 4 yrs, then it cracked and leaked out a buncha oil and quit. and i forgot to mention about a year before it went out i ad to put a diffferent body on the truck, and the harness that went with this body is th eone i hve now that drains the battery, i justdont know if there is a way that could have soething to do with frying the coils
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 231
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From: Cedar Park, Texas
Just a shot in the dark here, but you may have a short in your ignition wiring that keeps power to the coil at all times? Or maybe too much voltage spiking through the system. Since you mentioned doing a cab swap with wiring recently, I would go back and check your wiring from the ignition switch all the way through to the engine compartment to make sure it is in good shape and correctly connected. Check the switch itself in both the run and off positions, check your voltage at the coil, etc... Other that, I might try changing out the Duraspark II ignition module - its a rectangluar box attached to the left inner fender to see if that makes a difference.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Ray
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Ray
Last edited by rfxj3; Apr 8, 2005 at 12:46 AM. Reason: edited for spelling
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 4,701
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When you swapped the body, did you use the original wiring harness and ignition switch, or the new one in the new body? I would want to say that maybe the switch is acting up a little. A little weekend project you could do is to pull the entire harness and inspect and repair it. I did mine from front to back, and resoldered cracked areas, heat shrunk them and retaped the thing. I wouldn't be surprised if you have a little pinch in a wire that has chafed the insulation away. I know it sounds like a pain, but may be quicker in the long run. I pulled mine in about 45 minutes, and reinstalled it in about 3 hours.
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
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If you have bypassed the resistor wire in the coil power wiring the coil will burn up if it is not made to be powered by full system voltage. The coil is always on in a Duraspark system. The coil will get very warm just sitting if the key is in the RUN position. That is what the ACC position of the key is for. The ignition should not be powered up in the ACC position.
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From: GA
i know its not my ign module, because i have tried my spare before, its not the switch becuse i have tried numerous switches, and i have gone over the whole harness a few times....i cant find a thing!! this is not the original harness, its the one that was on this body, because it is ac auto harness, and the old cab was a non ac manual harness. and one was 76, one was 79, so alot of the connectors are different. all i have ever found is when the ignition is left on, there is a wire under the dash, i think its green with white stripe? (im not sure) that gets very warm. I have never been able to figure out where the draw is coming from. If it was somehting that was energizing the coil all the time it woudl stay warm all the time right??? it really doesnt seem like there is much on these old trucks to draw current when turned off. all of my heat/ac stuff is gone, so it cant be anything with that. Its not my radio because it did it with the old radio, not the alt because the old one went bad and it still does it with the reman, i just dont know. And it will drain the batt fairly quick...like in a few days. Any ideas?
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Logistics Pro
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 4,238
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From: Northern Illinois
Try this test, pull out the key and take the under hood light bulb out. Pull the POS cable lead at the battery, install a test light... 1 end to the POS cable and the ground to the POS terminal on battery. Does it light up? If so start pulling fuses till the test light goes out, this is where your drain is coming from.
As far as the coil goes, try running a ballast resistor in line with the + coil lead.
As far as the coil goes, try running a ballast resistor in line with the + coil lead.
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