I have an old Bendix coil that my father had put in my Speedster in the 50s, and it ran on it with a Delco distributor for years. I've cleaned-up the coil, and would like to test it to make sure it's usable. The car is 6v, negative ground, no mag, no starter. Just the battery, dizzy, and coil. Any advice on testing it? I've checked resistance, and got 0.50 ohms across the positive and negative posts, but needle only moved slightly (when in (RX10,000) when checking across the center and a post. Thanks for the help.
I took my coil to a local auto parts store, and they used a better meter than mine and got 1.5 ohms across the positive and negative posts. Can anyone tell me if there would be a problem with this, or any further testing that I can do? Thanks for any advice.
Dave,
Just hook it up and try to use it. It's as easy as any other test that you can do.
I vote with Jerry.
The measurement between the +/- posts will give the Primary resistance. Measuring between the Negative post and the center post will give you the secondary resistance. If you get a reading on both, the coil MAY be good. A lot of these coils will fail when they get hot so a continuity or resistance check on the bench is never the final word.
Run it...And carry a spare.
Thanks. As I noted, the needle jumped a little when I measured across the negative and center posts. I'll put it in and give her a shot when I get it all back together. Just didn't want to mount it on the firewall if it's not usable. Thanks again.