wiring coil and lumenition on s3 esprit

[fenton]

Hi everyone

after recently solving my lack of sparks at the ignition, i invested my hard earned wedge on a new Lumenition system and she lives!!!!!! Alas only temporarily. i wired the unit up as i had taken the old one off, but she wouldn't go, connected the white and yellow lead to the red on the lumenition and bingo!!!!! I spent the next hour tuning the carbs with my colortune took her for a spin and she was brilliant did a couple of miles and then misfiring across the rev range. i managed to limp home still misfiring,thinking that it could be fuel starvation but it did not recover on tickover. my experience has been in the past that has the car ticks over the float bowls fill and the misfire goes away.

After a few days away i have decided to have another look. the rev counter wasn't working so i decided to take the coil box off to have a look and see what was wrong. i new i only had the violet lead from the lumenition on the - side of the coil so thought it must be off there.

forgetting the rev counter for the moment i decided to check the wiring of the lumenition to the coil to see if it was the problem of my misfire. these are how it is.

violet from lumenition to ( - side of coil), red from lumenition to (+side of coil)

white from loom to (+side of coil)

white/yellow disconnected , black earthed to lumenition, grey sheath with bare briad eathed to lumenition and red disconnected

i checked these with volt meter and are as follows with ignition on

white 12 volts positive

white/yellow nothing until starter is operated and then 12 volts and down to nothing as starter is disengaged , red from grey sheath 2 volts.CAN ANYBODY HELP

[WayneB]

Does the red wire from the Luminition go to a ballast resistor and from the resistor goes to the + side of the coil?

If you have the standard type coil on, its designed to run at a constant 6V , with the 12V supply resisted down to 6V by the resistor.

The disconnected White/yellow wire should go straight to the positive terminal on the coil to supply a straight 12V on starting ONLY.(to increase coil output for improved cold starting.

Running a coil designed for a ballast resistor on a straight 12V will burn it out (and cause a missfire)

[fenton]

Does the red wire from the Luminition go to a ballast resistor and from the resistor goes to the + side of the coil?

If you have the standard type coil on, its designed to run at a constant 6V , with the 12V supply resisted down to 6V by the resistor.

The disconnected White/yellow wire should go straight to the positive terminal on the coil to supply a straight 12V on starting ONLY.(to increase coil output for improved cold starting.

Running a coil designed for a ballast resistor on a straight 12V will burn it out (and cause a missfire)

THANKS FOR THE REPLY The coil is the lucas sport coil that was on the car when i bought it. the red wire is connected to a plain white wire from the loom, i do not know if it goes to ballast resistor, where would it be? This white wire reads 12v when ignition is on. the only other wire that has any power with the ignition on is a red one coming out of a grey outer insulation that measures 2v i tried connecting this and the yellow/white to the positive side of coil, it starts but will not run.

shane

[WayneB]

The ballast resistor looks like this, and is usually mounted by or on the coil.

The white power wire(12V) goes to the one side of the resistor(and the red Luminition wire), the output side to the coil+

On the diagram KW on the zig-zag wire represents the Ballast resistor.

Lucas do Sports Coils for ballasted and non- ballasted systems, have a good look at yours and see which one it is..

Edited August 7, 2006 by WayneB

[USAndretti42]

Here's the thread from my misfire troubles, if you haven't already read it, Shane.

Misfire story

I found I needed a ballasted coil and the resistor was the wire from the ignition switch. This doesn't seem to be the case with the turbo based on the wiring diagram Wayne posted. It does appear that the ballast resistor is missing. Check the coil resistance of the coil. I think 3 Ohms is the ballasted coil figure.

The red wire from the grey sheath MAY be the rev counter wire.

I don't understand the diagram where it shows the red wire coming from the feed side of the resistor going to the coil negative. How's that work, Wayne?

[fenton]

Here's the thread from my misfire troubles, if you haven't already read it, Shane.

Misfire story

I found I needed a ballasted coil and the resistor was the wire from the ignition switch. This doesn't seem to be the case with the turbo based on the wiring diagram Wayne posted. It does appear that the ballast resistor is missing. Check the coil resistance of the coil. I think 3 Ohms is the ballasted coil figure.

The red wire from the grey sheath MAY be the rev counter wire.

I don't understand the diagram where it shows the red wire coming from the feed side of the resistor going to the coil negative. How's that work, Wayne?

well thankyou both for your help, iam going out for another look. i think the diagram makes sense as the red wire comes out of the screened cable as does the feed for the negative side. they are not one and the same. if i had a ballast resistor it would all make sense. but there isn't one any where near the coil, unless like you say it's the wire itself, which if it is the red wire in the grey sheath it's only measuring 2volts. time for another look. i'll be back later with an update.

[fenton]

just fimished my evening session and i may be winning. when i first started her she was only running on no1 & 4 cylinders, checked the plugs, dead!! strange because she was not doing that yesterday. rushed to my nearest halfords purchased new plugs(all they had was bosch 4 electrode) new dizzy cap and rotor. put them on and all is firing good, reset all the carbs with my colortuneand all appears to be fine. but i didn't have time for a test drive. lumenition is still wired twelve volts with the white lead, coil doesn't seem to be getting hot. maybe it was plugs breaking down all along. tune in for the test drive tomorrow.

[WayneB]

Here's the thread from my misfire troubles, if you haven't already read it, Shane.

Misfire story

I don't understand the diagram where it shows the red wire coming from the feed side of the resistor going to the coil negative. How's that work, Wayne?

The red wire coming from the sheath powers the Luminition system (from the main white 12V wire)

The other wire going to the negative side of the coil from the Luminition is brown. It kinda looks like its the red wire still on the Lotus wiring diagram .

[fenton]

The red wire coming from the sheath powers the Luminition system (from the main white 12V wire)

The other wire going to the negative side of the coil from the Luminition is brown. It kinda looks like its the red wire still on the Lotus wiring diagram .

still need help

i've reset all the carbs(with new advice, from igor, arnolds garage)

reset timing.

runs perfect. and then starts to misfire after about 10 mins driving. and coil is very hot.

removed coil this is a lucas sport and has B.Y.S SP12 45341A 1 88 stamped on bottom. does anyone know if this is a ballast coil or not. iam still running 12v to the coil as no other cable has a feed apart from the white and yellow which is fed from the starter. all my instincts say buy another coil but i don't know what to buy. the wiring diagram shows a ballast resistor system , but i have only got 12volt feeds. should i buy a ballast resistor and coonect it to the white wire and start again.

my wife is becoming very anti lotus ineed to sort quickly.

[hilly]

Hi Shane

I have got a complete ignition set-up for an S3 (Coil, balast, Luminition module, glass fibre housing, all wired up with the Lotus plugs still on it) sitting in my shed which you can borrow to trouble shoot with.

You should be able to just unplug your bits and swap this lot in to see which parts are giving you problems.

I can box it up and send it to you, assuming you are located in the UK.

Let me know if this would help

Andy

[fenton]

Hi Shane

I have got a complete ignition set-up for an S3 (Coil, balast, Luminition module, glass fibre housing, all wired up with the Lotus plugs still on it) sitting in my shed which you can borrow to trouble shoot with.

You should be able to just unplug your bits and swap this lot in to see which parts are giving you problems.

I can box it up and send it to you, assuming you are located in the UK.

Let me know if this would help

Andy

thanks for the offer Andy. i've just bought a new coil with a ballast resistor from lumenition. i've connected a 12volt feed to one side of the ballast, but iam still getting 12 volts from the other side. am i thick or is my brain just not working properly. does the ballast need to be earthed??? once again thanks for the offer its good to see what helpfull people lotus owners are.

regards shane

[hilly]

Hi Shane

If the coil is switched off then you will measure +12V either side of the ballast resistor.

What you need to do is remove white/black wire from the negative terminal of the coil and then ground this terminal with a bit of wire. You should then see the positive terminal drop to about 6 ish volts with the ignition turned on. Don't ground the coil for too long (more than 1 or 2 minutes) or you will possible burn out the coil. Also be careful when you take the wire off because you will generate a spark when you do.

Hope this fixes you problems

Andy

[fenton]

Hi Shane

If the coil is switched off then you will measure +12V either side of the ballast resistor.

What you need to do is remove white/black wire from the negative terminal of the coil and then ground this terminal with a bit of wire. You should then see the positive terminal drop to about 6 ish volts with the ignition turned on. Don't ground the coil for too long (more than 1 or 2 minutes) or you will possible burn out the coil. Also be careful when you take the wire off because you will generate a spark when you do.

Hope this fixes you problems

Andy

yeah i remembered us andretti dicussing it on his misfire post, checked it out wired it all up switched on ignition 9 volts on the coil +, took car for drive, started to misfire after 10 minutes. either the lumenition system is faulty or the leads are breaking down, i've checked them for resistivity and they seem ok. iam going to buy some anyway just to rule them out. getting worried now that it's something more serious like a cracked piston or block. hope not!!!!!

regards shane

[USAndretti42]

Does your coil have a radio suppressor connected to the negative side and then to earth? Mine started breaking down when it got hot leading to heavy misfire.

Is you alternator charging? Mine had a bad connection on the feed back to the starter solenoid. At low revs the volts would drop and the engine would start misfiring.

Does the misfire coincide with anything else such as the fans turning on?

You say you have adjusted the carburetters twice. Did they need much adjustment the second time? If so, why? Is the choke sticking on?

[fenton]

Does your coil have a radio suppressor connected to the negative side and then to earth? Mine started breaking down when it got hot leading to heavy misfire.

Is you alternator charging? Mine had a bad connection on the feed back to the starter solenoid. At low revs the volts would drop and the engine would start misfiring.

Does the misfire coincide with anything else such as the fans turning on?

You say you have adjusted the carburetters twice. Did they need much adjustment the second time? If so, why? Is the choke sticking on?

SORTED IT !!!!!!!!!!!!! Bought new leads and it still misfired, in frustrastion iwas looking at the engine and revving the nuts off it wishing it would just blow up and put me out of my misery, when i noticed something moving. the air feed hose had fallen off the intake up by the quater light, whenever the engine was put under pressure it sucked itself flat , starving the carbs of air. i disconnected it at the filter box took her for a drive ,perfect. how iam going to get that hose back on i do not know. has anybody used any different forms of air filters or is it just to hot in there. thanks for all your help.

shane

[USAndretti42]

I would keep the cold air feed. The hose to the quartelight should be wire-reinforced to stop it going flat.

[johnpwalsh]

Hi guys, read this thread with interest as I have the same problem with lack of spark, at the start of the thread it goes on to say how the coil is wired up then it beocomes a bit confusing so if somebody could help me out here in laymans terms it would be great, I have to optronic luminition system with a coil and a balast resistor so if one of you guys can tell me how it should be wired I may even get her to run sometime.

Thanks in advance.

John.

The Esprit S3 Newbie.

[Wilf]

I assume you are getting no signs of life at all? The following page has a link to an optronic installation and fault finding guide

http://www.newtronic.co.uk/new/main.php/lumfit

This should narrow things down a bit as it allows you to test some of the component parts.

The coil wiring is not too complex, the positive side has two feeds, one that gives battery voltage during cranking from the starter motor, and a second one that gives a reduced voltage via the ballast resistor used once the engine is running. The "over" voltage during cranking gives a stronger spark to get things going. Using a ballast coil on a system that does not have a ballast resistor will cause the coil to overheat.

The negative terminal is connected to the lumenition box and is how it controls the spark generation, the lumention will pulse the voltage on the negative terminal triggered by the optical sensor. As the coil is just a transformer, the voltage "spike" on the low voltage terminals causes a much larger "spike" on the high tension side which is what causes the plugs to spark. The links explains how to test the overall system and the power module so should help move you forward a bit.

Not the best explanation in the world, I'm sure some others will chip in and make it clearer!

[espritthree]

I assume you are getting no signs of life at all? The following page has a link to an optronic installation and fault finding guide

http://www.newtronic.co.uk/new/main.php/lumfit

This should narrow things down a bit as it allows you to test some of the component parts.

The coil wiring is not too complex, the positive side has two feeds, one that gives battery voltage during cranking from the starter motor, and a second one that gives a reduced voltage via the ballast resistor used once the engine is running. The "over" voltage during cranking gives a stronger spark to get things going. Using a ballast coil on a system that does not have a ballast resistor will cause the coil to overheat.

The negative terminal is connected to the lumenition box and is how it controls the spark generation, the lumention will pulse the voltage on the negative terminal triggered by the optical sensor. As the coil is just a transformer, the voltage "spike" on the low voltage terminals causes a much larger "spike" on the high tension side which is what causes the plugs to spark. The links explains how to test the overall system and the power module so should help move you forward a bit.

Not the best explanation in the world, I'm sure some others will chip in and make it clearer!

Been having 'odd' issues of late with ignition and starting. After having done a lot of google searches and reading, your explanation just dropped the penny for me . It all finally makes sense, Thanks!

[johnpwalsh]

Thanks for all the info guys, she now lives and breathes, my problem was missing earth wires all over the place causing week spark, also the carbs had been played about with and the static timing was way out, all this together made it a pile of cr++ but now running perfect had her out for her first good run yesterday first time in almost 3 years and did just over 200 miles, great but now requires an exhaust.

Thabks again.

John