Posted by: tow hook
« on: March 31, 2021, 01:19:25 PM »Buck, I know this is a late post, but I had a similar issue. My problem was the wrong coil for my application.
I am not an electrician, but the way I understand it, there is a 1.5 and 3 ohm coil for 12 volt applications. The 1.5 ohm is typically for 8 cylinder engines and 3 ohm for 6 and 4 cylinder engines. Of course an 8 cylinder will discharge the coil more times per second than a 4 cylinder, so if you have the 1.5 ohm on a 4 cylinder engine, it is storing more current than intended, thus overheating.
Mine wouldn't completely die, but lose power the more I drove. I messed with float levels, fuel pump, changed plugs and ran compression checks. The spark plugs would be black as coal. I took off the NAPA coil, put on a Petronix 3ohm coil and my issues went away. The NAPA coil was a 1.5 ohm unit. It would also get smokin hot.
i did a pertronix set up, and had to swap coils as well. i grounded out the dist ( so the pertronix internals were fryed ) trying to swap a mom working oil pump. i put a old school points back in. it runs great for now. i'm sure i'll have to put the petronix pick up back in. but i know what i did wrong
