1974 plymouth valiant stock 225 slant 6 mostly all original . stock original electronic ignition . i drove it for 20 minutes today , turned it off for about 5 minutes . then had mad trouble starting and staying running . car would start until i left off the key , making me think ballast resistor , changed that with two different ones , was slightly better but would now not stay running at all except if you hold key forward . inside cap was in good shape . but i noticed the coil wire loose and it came right out in pieces . as shown in pics . no idea how old the wires are as i have not had the car that long . but it was obviously corroded and burned . i pulled the debris out , cleaned out what i could , put an old wire in there and its running great . so , my question is : is there any known condition that would cause the wire in the cap's terminal to burn up ? or is it just because the wire is old ? i am definately gonna get the cap and wires etc. real soon like tomorrow , but since i need the car for an early morning commute tomorrow . i was wondering if it would be ok ? and ok in the future with just those new parts . thanks for any help .
help/advice ? , burned coil wire
- Thread starter moparjon
- Start date
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They can corrode and look like that. If it is not making good contact, it will arc and the heat will destroy it also. The corrosion can lead to arcing.
A new cap and plug wires should fix you up fine. If the coil tower is damaged and won’t clean up, you may need a new coil too.
A new cap and plug wires should fix you up fine. If the coil tower is damaged and won’t clean up, you may need a new coil too.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
This can certainly happen. I'd just chaulk it up to "happened" unless it gets to be habit forming It might be that it was not seated fully and arced in there some. This will "cook" the wire and hasten failure
My bet is a PO pulled the wire out of its connector end and just stuffed it back in. Do as mentioned and replace the wires, cap, rotor, and coil if you can see damage in the post
all the above but it also looks like water was getting in there also. Coil is low on a slant. Top boot on the coil wire was probably loose. Dielectric compound is your friend in that case.
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