Can't get a spark from the coil

[Ethan18/1987/2.0L]

We've recently been having more problems with the electrical systems on my capri we've been having troubles with the coil not wanting to provide a spark it was just yesterday that we had just got it back on the road as early morning it had passed an MOT and was all cleared but on the way back we noticed that the engine was lacking power but but being the first time we were properly able to drive the car we just put it down to it being an old car that hadn't been driven, but going out on a short trip lead to it cutting out twice and it just not enjoying it in general we eventually made it to our destination and decided to unplug the direct 12v fead the we installed (cause the original just wouldn't have it) and plug in the original bearing in mind it has an acci spark distributor and a 12v 3ohm coil we thought it was a long shot but we gave it a try and it was a new car again and had twice the power and drove beautifully but the lights were not working so we got it home and once it stopped it didn't want to start again so we traced it back to the coil and are now starting to think that it might be the distributor but aren't sure at this point in time so figured wouldn't hurt to ask see if anyone else had some ideas

Thank you in advance

[D366Y]

When you say direct 12V feed, have you taken it straight from the battery? Only ask as if so would strongly recommend you get an in-line fuse fitted if not already.

You can check the function of a coil pretty easily;
https://youtu.be/rJYJ3KvPhhY?si=4dERFu2b_j5CRMkh

If no spark or not very bright, likely needs a new coil.
Otherwise it could be the distributor.
First question is are you 100% sure that the timing is set correctly?
Accuspark seem to be a bit hit and miss - some people swear by them and have no issues, others have loads of issues and switch back to original

Cheers
Danny

[nemo]

Danny, if he`d taken it literally straight from the battery, I`m pretty sure it won`t turn off with the key?, he`d need to physically disconnect it to stop the engine? Must mean a switched (12v) supply?

[Jasonmarie]

I would bin that accuspark straight away ,I had it fitted at Tickover so not a bodge job and it’s caused the car to run like shit , Chinese rubbish . Also a direct line to coil from battery will cook the coil if the coil does not have a ballast-resisted system ?

[nemo]

I think he`s changed to a 12v coil?

[Paul G]

I've twice used accusparks, one on an mgb and other on an early mk2 golf and in both cases I took my time fitting them and they worked well for ages - no problems.

I've dug out Accuspark's own fitting instructions and if these were followed to the letter. I 'm sure there would be less failures. After all if all Accuspark kits were as faulty as we are led to believe they would have gone out of business years ago.

https://www.accuspark.co.uk/fitting_guide.html

[SCP440]

The biggest difference I have noticed between Accuspark and a Petronix unit is the speed needed to spin the distributor before a spark is generated, on the Petronix unit it only needs to pass the pickup to get a spark where as the Accupspark needed to spun before a spark happens. Probably not a problem but if you have a tired battery the Petronix unit will still generate a spark how ever slowly it is going.
I think if you only do a couple of thousand miles a year an Accuspark unit will be fine but if you are planning on keeping your car personally I would go for Petronix, saying that at the price you could keep a spare Accuspark in the glovebox and if it failed you could be on your way in 15 mins without even removing the dizzy.
90% of this stuff is made in China sadly and we all know what the quality of there components is like.

[nemo]

At a guess I`d say the difference will bw down to the pickup: one will be optical, the other a hall effect device? An optical will obviously activate as soon as light level changes whereas the hall effect, being magnetic, will require a certain rate of flux which is directly proportional to speed (hence if you rotate slowly there may be no spark). It`s not that one system is weaker or slower, they just work differently but are both well proven. Assuming MY assumption is correct of course

[SCP440]

No they are both magnetic.

[Ethan18/1987/2.0L]

We ended finding out the distribution had broke and wasn't distributing spark properly so we swapped it for on that came with it without a vacuum advance and it runs again ands been running well we took It to a tuner and found a number of little things wrong with it that all added up and its running alot better we found out the distributor that we had bought with vacuum advance would advance to early and cause it to randomly cut out when on the clutch so when we swapped it to one without vacuum advance it dosent advance the timing to far and is alot better now