"Backlash" wrote in
:

My forklift has the older, cylindrical shaped ignition coil, with a 12
volt system. The coil was using an external resistor when I got the
lift truck. It is now wired to get 12 volts when starting, and it
fires up INSTANTLY. It then drops back to the resistor for running.
However, after starting the engine with half choke and running for a
couple of minutes, I push off the manual choke. As the engine warms
up, you can hear cylinders "coming in" that weren't running properly
before. A plug check found smutty plugs, but the engine runs
relatively well after the "clearing out" occurs. The engine should not
be over-choked, because I am just choking it enough to keep it running
as well as possible, no black smoke exhausting, etc. I am wondering
if the resistor is cutting back on the coil too much, affecting my
spark after startup and during running. The coil has no markings. I
am thinking about bypassing the resistor to see if things improve, but
I obviously don't want to burn up the coil. Does anyone have any info
on how to tell if a coil really NEEDS an external resistor? Any ohm
readings I can take to tell if it's a coil that can be run without a
resistor at 12 volts?
Thanks for any helpful info.

RJ


RJ,
You didn't mention who the manufacturer of the engine was, and that would
be helpful information. My suggestion is a trip to the junkyard...to
find an electronic system from a later model year. Failing that, you
could always go with an aftermarket electronic conversion kit for the
distributor, and something like an MSD or Jacobs ignition kit.
Changing over would provide a reliable, high-voltage, stable spark and
performance, better economy, less maintenance.
Be sure to open the spark gap up to what the electronic system was
designed to run with. (This should gain you some power to boot.)

--
Anthony

You can't 'idiot proof' anything....every time you try, they just make
better idiots.

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