Great video, appreciate you putting this content out there! I had to replace my coil last week...the original held in there pretty good to be a junkyard rescue zcar but after driving it a straight 44 miles, it was not happy. Here were my symptoms for anyone that may be curious of what one of the failure modes are of a bad ignition coil: I was on my way home from a 44 mile drive and I started having this odd feeling like the car was either loosing fuel delivery or loosing timing, it would idle fine but at take off or under load, it was very weak and backfiring just as if timing was out. I checked fuel pressure and had completely rebuilt fuel system earlier so doubted that but still checked everything there and then turned my attention to timing and that's when things got odd...I had to really retard the timing to even make it run decent, (timing wasn't even on the timing marker bracket). When car cooled down, it was hard to start but would run pretty good for about 4 minutes and then start spuddering and backfiring. It was pretty miserable taking off at green lights because of the odd hesitation. Engine never stalled and never had any loping, it idled fairly normal but at times you could feel a slight miss. I went with the MSD blaster 2 vibration rated coil and have been happy with it so far, it is a 700m Ohm, ( .7 Ohm) coil on primary windings. I mainly went with that because that was what my local parts store had and it met the specs..so far it has treated me will these last two weeks of daily driving.
GREAT VIDEO! Had same problem with previous owner incorrectly connecting the wires to the + and - terminals. Only realized it when I watched this video, led her by video 9.0. I have lived with the difficult starting since I got the car 9 months ago - have tried everything to resolve it. Turns out, I only needed to switch these 2 wires. That said, I'm sure all the other stuff I did also have made a positive impact on my '78 Z, but now I might actually see and feel the difference. Thanks for posting these vids.
Awesome coverage! JUST what I was looking for! I just picked up a 240z (hadn't had one in 25 years) and I'm relearning its internals. I never really understood the coil when I was 25, and right now, I am just enjoying combing through every bit of this Z's connections & rebuilding/examining every component. (found wrong springs in the carbs!, one weak and one strong!) There is a new coil installed and there is a flamethrower in the back hatch that also looks brand new, so I suspect I will find the wrong coil in this Z as well.
Regarding the Pertronix coils you have, the .5 oms is for a stock system with points. Their 1.5 ohm coil is for use with their Pertronix Ignitor (replacing the points) while maintaining the stock ballast resistor. And they make a 3 ohm coil for use with the Pertronix Ignitor but bypassing the stock ballast resistor (the 3 ohm coil is internally resisted).
Thanks for posting this I just removed my ballast resistor because I ordered the pointless ignition and 3 ohm coil and I have been scratching my head intil I read your comment.
Dude, I swear you have got to be a reincarnation of one of the original designers or engineers of this car because your knowledge is freaking impeccable! I don't even need to take a class lol. Very informative, step by step, and descriptive in trouble-shooting Datsun electrical. So, I do have a question regarding stock coils vs. aftermarket coils: Do MSD ignition/coil upgrades really improve the system or do they actually make it run worse? I never really thought about it until I watched this video. So, I have an MSD on my 76. (installed by someone else) and I don't even know how the thing works. I do know that its wired in differently and bypasses the stock system. But, I don't remember if my 76 has that ballad resistor installed or not. I am just wondering if this setup is actually making the car run worse. Please note that my Z has been turbo-charged and has a larger fuel and air requirement, thus the larger spark setup. Your thoughts, please? Man, I appreciate it!
@@RestorationForBeginners well, you're probably not going to believe me, but it has the original naturally apirated L28E that came in the car, only it is now an NA2T (naturally aspirated to turbo) as I have turbo-charged it. I did have an MSD box installed and an aftermarket coil. Just wondering if the coil is too much? vs the stock unit. But I don't remember ever having many starting issues or odd electrical problems.
Honestly, if it works fine, then I'd leave it alone. I'd just make sure that the coil doesn't have an internal resistor built in if the external resistor is still connected.
@@RestorationForBeginners Yeah it seems to work fine. But I will definately check that and make sure it doesn't have the resistor built in. That never even occurred to me when I installed it. Can't wait for the next video! Thanks, dude. Cheers
I purchased a coil with the built in resistor for my 1970 240Z. You said that you don't recomment bypassing the external resistor. Would you recommend getting a coil that does require the external resistor rather than getting a coil with a built in resistor? Thanks and great video!!
from my understanding of the video, you could use either the 0.6 flamethrower coil with the resistor, or the 1.5 coil without the resistor? my 74 260z did not come with a ballast resistor, so I am wondering if the 1.5 would be the correct option or to get the 0.5 and buy a ballast resistor to go with it. Thanks in advance, awesome video by the way.
Trying to find a coil for my Turbo, it took testing around 10 Coils, that stated it was within specs for the car, which they weren't, I ended up taking my meter to the parts store and doing a test right on the counter, think the people thought I was crazy. But I finally found one with the perfect specs. I just wonder if it makes much difference.
I hear you. To me it made a massive difference. I cant tell the difference during normal driving, but starting is instant now and the car doesnt backfire as much at rapid deceleration.
Hey man love the videos watching all of them I haven't solved my problem. I bought a 74 260Z and put the Weber carburetor conversion kit on it it will not fire. I put a new distributor it is a conversion kit as well that I purchased off of eBay for $400. I have checked all my timing like you have suggested on your videos. I have checked my coil with a resistance. I am a little concerned with my distributor my rotor turns clockwise? And the firing order for a 260Z I can't find in my book? Before I change the stock distributor it would run when pouring gas into the carbs the air gap was off and I corrected it and damage the rotor so I've had to buy a conversion kit because they do not sell a OEM distributor?. Can you give me any advice thanks.
I’ve had one of these ballast resistors go bad on my 260z. It would crank and try and fire but as soon as you let the ignition key go back to the run position it would die.
I don't think they do. The best way to tell is to check the factory service manual for your year of S30 Z, and compare the resistance specs with the ones I mentioned in the video.
Um my patrol has the same l28 engine as this and I just put a new timing chain and chain slides and stuff but I can't find any information on how to put the distributor back on in the right position. Is there any way you could help, thanks
What if my coil varies from .7 ohms and .5 ohms of resistance when measuring its resistance? Is that okay or what it cause some hiccups? Also if the coil was installed “backwards” would the engine also run/idle rough?
Hi, i have a question. I upgrade my coil it was like 15,000 volts and now im at 30,000 but i have a missfire now is it because i need to upgrade my spark plugs wires?
Your videos are excellent :) your explanation on resistance has been interesting. I currently have a Datsun 260 with a L26 engine. Currently have a triple Weber setup with Lumenition Ignition Kit, my current Coil has a ballast resistor connected to it. Im looking to upgrade the ignition coil to a Pertronix Flamethrower 3 ohm Ignition coil. Will this be suitable? Thanks in Advance :)
Thank you! Like I said in the video, if you're looking to add in a coil that has an internal resistor built in, you have to bypass the external resistor as I've shown here. Why do you want to upgrade the coil? Is it running poorly now?
Restoration For Beginners . Bought the Car recently, the idle is poor from a cold start, it's cuts out after a few seconds, I need to engage the throttle until it warms up and then it idles fine. Revving the engine also causes a detonation sound from the Weber carburators, I changed the spark plugs and ignition cables a few days ago, still had the same issue and the ignition coil I have is generic with no marking so not sure if it's suited for my car. I suspect there is a leak around the exhaust manifold, 4-5th cylinder , which would also cause the sysmptoms, so will be replacing the gasket at some point. Will be going through your process once iv had these issues rectified. Thanks again, I look forward to your posts :)
This is an ignition coil with the correct primary and secondary resistance. I've been using it for a while without a ballast resistor and havent had any issues. www.amazon.com/dp/B00064P99W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_w76NBb62YM69F
