Barracuda not starting after being parked for five years
I'll check it out, Mattax. Just to clarify, if, under cranking, the coil still shows less than battery voltage, I have a bad ignition switch?
It means there is a poor connection of wire, which possibly could be at or in the switch. And although that's a problem, even if its just 5 -6 Volts, I think that should be enough to saturate the coil at cranking speeds.
* As long as there is voltage across the coil, there will be current flow as long as there is a connection to ground. Cranking speeds are slow, so it has more time to induce a field in the secondary.
Checking for a break in the primary windings is easy. With the ignition switch off, no power at the coil, you can check the primary windings by measuring the resistance from the primary + to the primary -.
* That said, the circuits are designed for the start position on the switch to allow full battery voltage at the coil. So if during cranking the battery positive is at 10 Volts, all of the wires to the coil positive should be at 10 Volts.
>> When the key is in the run position, power to the coil goes through the ballast resistor which reduces the voltage. When the engine is running, the alternator will be supplying power at roughly 14 Volts, the ballast resistor will drop that to roughly 7 volts.
>> Keep in mind that when the points or equivelant are open, there is no current flow through the coil. No current flowing means there will be no voltage drop. Depedning on the meter, voltage measurement of the coil + taken when the engine is running may average or fluctuate rapidly.
