Morris Minor Owners Club

Out of interest why do old coils never fail? And new coils are not up to scratch?
Is it better to hunt down old stock Lucas coils and hoard them for the future!

Would be interested in opinions
Cheers

It's the same reason that brake light switches used to last 40+ years, and now a year or two only; or windscreen rubbers crack after a few years instead of 30 years. Definitely worth hunting down and hoarding old stock.

Yes! Hunt down old stock. But since they 'never' fail - one spare just to prove it's NOT the coil is enough...

The problem is that they don't make stuff to last any more, they want it to fail so that you have to keep buying replacements and replacements for the replacements.

One of the traders at the National said that the problem with new coils is that there is not enough oil in them - the manufacturers have reduced this for 'economy' reasons! They work fine if fitted upright but otherwise are prone to overheating.

bmcecosse wrote:Yes! Hunt down old stock. But since they 'never' fail - one spare just to prove it's NOT the coil is enough...

Been there.....got the t- shirt

One of the traders at the National said that the problem with new coils is that there is not enough oil in them - the manufacturers have reduced this for 'economy' reasons! They work fine if fitted upright but otherwise are prone to overheating.

So why isn't there a label on the coil stating that they MUST be installed vertically.

Upright, does it matter which end is up?

My coil is connectors up.....away from engine heat and vibration.

Had mine fail today.. It's a Lucas coil. Appears to be date stamped to 1998 but has only done a few thousand miles service. Is it really better to mount them upright. I've been thinking about mounting mine away from the engine. Where else can it be bolted? Inner wing or bulkhead perhaps? Luckily I had a spare... Like you say 'it's never the coil' so I replaced loads of stuff before replacing it. This is its 3rd coil

It's never an old coil - but modern coils (yes -1998 is modern) are often poorly made. To break 2 coils is ridiculous - were they the correct coils with 3.2 Ohms impedance ? Many sell coils suitable only for Ballast ignition - and they overheat wildly when run on 12 volts ! Short runs - they will be fine , and great for starting! Long run - serious overheating..and caput...

Hi, I'm not sure. It would just have been one of the new old stocks ones dad bought a while back. The coil reads DLB 101. Then on the bottom it reads B.Y.S 15p6 453336a

Best to put a meter across the terminals and read the ohms.