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On 10 Feb 2004 at 18:33, Richard Arens wrote: > I would check the ignition system further . . . > especially the points, condenser, and ignition coil. In 30 years, I have never seen a bad Bosch condenser. I often replace K-Mart condensors with (old used) Bosch condensors, but I never replace Bosch condensors. Most of mine are OE, meaning that they are 30~35 years old. I would say that OE Bosch coils are almost as reliable, but don't confuse the Bosch blue coils with them. Points, on the other hand, are wear items and need occasional replacement, but with a CDI ignition they last well in excess of 50 kmiles, IF the dist cam is smooth. If your dist cam is worn, you should send the whole dist to me for rebuilding. > It turned out to be a bad condenser, which is essentially just an > electrical storage device that sends the voltage to the coil necessary > to collapse the field in the secondary windings. From there the voltage > that was stepped up in the coil goes out to the distributor, through the > rotor to the ignition wires and spark plugs. The points are responsible > for triggering the cycling of the condenser. If it's bad, it can't > store enough electricity to collapse the field in the coil ever time the > points close so you'll have a misfire condition or the voltage output > from the coil will be so weak that the incoming charge of fuel and air > will blow out the meager spark flame kernel. While this may be a useful way to think about it, it should be understood that this is not how a Kettering ignition system actually works. The spark energy is stored in the coil, not the condensor, and the condensor is actually there to control the voltage rise time so that the voltage doesn't rise so fast that the spark jumps the points gap as it is opening. In other words, it gives the points time to get open far enough that the spark has to occur somewhere else (hopefully across the spark plug gap.) -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org