I realize this discussion wasn't about -my- car but my voltage across the coil (+ to -) terminals was only 6.73 volts. All of the resistances were in spec by the manual -except- the coil, (+) terminal to H.T. socket, it's supposed to be 7000 ohms and mine is 9500-ish. It's an original coil. This tells me my spark won't be as good due to the extra resistance. True Jan? Or am I hosed up? I'm a telecom and computer nerd. I had B&EE in the navy but I'm no engineer. --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Jan van de Wouw <jvdwouw@xxxx> wrote: > On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:02:33 -0400, Hank wrote: > > > I'm pretty sure the coil is the problem. > > When disconnected, I'm getting a full 12 volts on the > > two wires that connect to terminal #15 (+) on the coil, > > but that drops to 4.6 volts as soon as I connect them > > to the coil. > > Ehm... Basic physics says that on an OPEN circuit, the > voltage across the gap ALLWAYS is as high as the feed > for the circuit... > > Only once you connect ANYTHING in the gap an actual > voltage can be measured on the component... > > If you're getting 4.6V over the coil, you're loosing 7.4V > somewhere... What voltage do you get across the resistors? > > JAN van de Wouw > > Thinking Different... Using a Mac... > Living the Dream... Driving a DeLorean... > Shifting Expectations... Driving a Nissan... > > DMC-12 "Dagger" since Sep. 2000 > 100NX "Saphire" since Nov. 2002 > -------------------------------