Can you replace a ballast resistor on a classic car?
So if you have a classic car with missing ignition components, don’t hesitate to replace the coil and ballast resistor yourself. Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery, if there is one installed on the car.
Why are there ballast resistors on ignition coils?
This mucking around is really only necessary on simple mechanical ignition systems. As soon as you go to an electronic ignition system you can control the dwell electronically and produce a stronger spark without burning the coil out. Hence you won’t normally see ballasted coils with a modern ignition system.
What are the symptoms of a bad ballast resistor?
The most obvious symptoms will be the vehicle starts, but then immediately dies as soon as you release the key. If this happens, the professionals at YourMechanic will be able to measure the voltage coming from the ballast resistor and determine if you need a replacement.
Can a cold start aid use a ballast resistor?
One is a cold start aid – the coil runs on say 9 volts and the ballast resistor drops the battery voltage to this. When cranking the full battery voltage is applied to the coil – it may go down quite a bit on a cold start due to the current taken by the starter.
Do you need a ballast resistor to start a car?
As Falken said, the cars run low-voltage coils designed to work at 6 or 8volts, and when you hit the ‘start’ part of the ignition it bypasses the resistor and feeds the battery voltage directly to the coil. With the starter working the battery can only give 8volts, so the coil works perfectly to start the car. The coil should never run at 12volts.
How do you remove a ballast resistor from a ignition switch?
The ballast resistor should have its own secondary wire with a round or U-shaped wire terminal end connected to the positive coil lead stud. Step 4: Remove the wires from the ballast resistor. One comes from the ignition switch while one goes to the ignition coil positive terminal. Step 5: Un-mount the ballast resistor.
How to test ballast resistors, resistance and coils?
Ballast Resistors, Resistance and Coils 1 Test procedure: 1.1 Switch off ignition. 1.2 Disconnect all wires from coil (-). 2 Interpreting the results of the test: 2.1 If no significant voltage drop is detected in 1.4, the vehicle does not have a ballast resister. 3 Recommended coils
How does the ballast resistor work on a Falken?
Release the key and the ballast resistor cuts back in to drop the normal 12v back to 8 for the coil. Everything else in the car is designed to run on 12V. The option was to have a 12V coil running at only 8volts trying to start the car. That’s what the high-powered coil Falken has is designed to do.