Volvo RWD 200 Forum

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Coil 200

For fun I swapped in a spare fuel pressure regulator tonight.

After that I measured the voltage of the battery and it was 12.07 volts.

After that I took the leads off of the coil.

Across the coil from left lead to right lead was 1.1 ohms.

Left lead to center I got zero ohms.
Right lead to center i got zero ohms.

I started the car up and i could see sparking from the left, right, and center coil connection points. Little sparks arcing from each one.

By the way, the car still doesn't run right. haha.


Thanks for all the encouragement guys!
Tom
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Related Maintenance History Things 200

Throttle body and Flame Trap cleaned 2000 miles ago
Fuel Filter and in tank fuel pump hose 13000 miles ago
Air filter 16000 miles ago
Volvo spark plugs and timing belt 19000 miles ago
All new ceramic fuses in fuse panel 22000 miles ago
Battery 30000 miles ago (2012)
RPM / Crank position sensor 35000 miles ago
Oxygen sensor, spark plugs, spark plug wires, in tank fuel pump 37,000 miles ago.

So looking at this list I'll do the cap/rotor and plug wires.




--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Running Better 200

The car is running better and idles better.
Jr. installed the new rotor, cap, and wires so not it idles fine and doesn't stall. He took it for a test drive and it still lacked power going up hills.

So I told him to disconnect the catalytic converter. So after a test drive it seems to be driving good with much more power.

I'm guessing the catalytic converter is plugged/restricted. I guess we will take a look at the muffler to see if it could be restricted too.

I really don't feel like spending the money for a catalytic converter right now.
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

I fixed a charging circuit issue earlier this year - cleaning all the big red wire connections and ensuring minimal voltage drop between the alternator and battery - and MANY things improved. This may be something to verify and check off the list of potential problems.








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Coil 200

I've been following your posts and I believe this is your second battery, correct?

Unless both are suspect, I would check for a possible voltage drain.
--
Bruce S. near D.C.








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Coil 200

Hi Bruce,

The deal is that I have 2 batteries for my 240. Besides the battery that was in the car, I have a spare battery that has been sitting on my workbench for a couple of years. It's probably not in the best of shape.

When the battery died the first time, I swapped in the spare one.

But yes, I've had them both in the car while working on this issue.

So in theory, both batteries could be bad. I think one was purchased in 2012 and the other one in 2013.
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

It still runs poorly after replacing the coil ? Is it possible the spark fed back throught the primary side and toasted your ECU ?

Greg








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Coil 200

Coil has not been replaced. Just tried to test the ohms with a digital multi-meter.
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

Have you checked for proper voltage, scorch marks, corrosion and arcing at the power stage?

--
Current - 95 855 GLT Sportwagon 255k, Formerly - 90 244 DL 300k








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Coil 200

12.07 is a bad battery.

Sparks at the distributor is either bad wires, cap, or both.

Dan








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Coil 200

When the car is running the voltage at the battery increases to 14 volts.

No sparking is observed at the distributor cap. The sparks are on the primary and secondary coil connections.
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

Resting voltage for a fully charged battery is about 12.7 volts, yours is reading 12.07 or about 25% charged. 14 volts running indicates the alternator is working but tells you nothing about the battery condition. Take the battery to auto zone and have them do a load test, my guess is it's dead. The engine electronics require a good fully charged battery.

Sparking at the plug wires says the old rubber is not providing a good seal and along with dirt and grime sparks are jumping. You can try cleaning the coil and the rubber caps but my guess is the wires are old and need replacing with good quality wires.

Dan








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Coil 200

I was guessing Tom was seeing sparks when no wire was plugged into the coil tower. If he is seeing them with the wire plugged in, there's positive (ouch) proof the coil wire or distributor rotor is open-circuit. I suppose it could also be a plug wire, if the sparks were occurring only on one cylinder, but the spark should occur at the smallest gap. And that gap should be the spark plug's gap. If it isn't, that means the path to the plug is interrupted.

An open coil wire or rotor would result in the symptoms which title this thread.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Ohm my God, that was bad. Watt made you tell that joke?








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Coil 200

"the spark should occur at the smallest gap. And that gap should be the spark plug's gap."
That's assuming that the plugs are grounded.

If however the battery is poorly grounded to the engine block another electrical path may be followed.

"If it isn't, that means the path to the plug is interrupted."
I'd use a jumper cable from the -ve battery post to the engine head to rule that out.
--
1980 245 Canadian B21A with SU carb, M46 trans, 3:31 dif, in Brampton, Ont.








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Coil 200

I thought sparks were coming off the distributor cap!

How old and what brand wires, cap, and rotor are installed?

Dan








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Coil 200

Thanks Dan, Art, Baklava and all who are assisting me.

I feel bad that there have been so many replies with all sorts of suggestions. haha.

To be clear, this is what I observed.

1. After removing all the wires from the coil and trying to test the ohms, I put all the wires back on.

2. I started the car and it idled and ran terrible.

3. It was getting dark. At the coil, I observed sparks arcing out of the rubber boot at the coil end of the wire that goes to the distributor cap.

4. I also observed little tiny sparks arcing at the wire connections for each of the primary connections on each side.

I didn't observe sparks at the distributor cap.

I'm sure the plug wires could be 3 to 5 years old.
Spark plugs are a year or two old.

I'm not sure of the brand of plug wires. They are black.

Tonight or tomorrow I'll check the timing and distributor position.

I'll also see if I have an old spare set of plug wires for the Volvo.

Tom
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

"
3. It was getting dark. At the coil, I observed sparks arcing out of the rubber boot at the coil end of the wire that goes to the distributor cap."




Replace with a new set of Spark Plug Wires...or just take the Coil to Distrib wire to your local autoparts store and get a new wire.

Then observe the running engine in the dark and look for any arcing off the Spark plug wires.

PS I also think you need another battery.

If you had no problems with the running Before you performed that Switch replacement---in your original Post---It is doubtful that the timing suddenly jumped off.

Have you ever Replaced the CPS - Crank Position Sensor.



PSSSS. I'm up in Westminster. If you decided to sell the wagon, I would be interested in coming to check it out.









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Coil 200

Are the two LT wires on the coil the right way round? They are marked on the coil as + and -.








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Coil 200

It is important to buy quality ignition parts like Bougicord, Bosh and NGK copper plugs. They cost about the same as the aftermarket junk and last much longer.
Dan








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Coil 200

Dan: I'd be concerned about that battery voltage. 12.07V is 50% charged by pretty much everyone's book. Either get it on a charger or think about a replacement before it fails you.

B








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Coil 200

12.07 is about 25% charged, dead in my mind.

Dan








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Coil 200

Hi Tom,

FYI.

On page 280-12/Bentley manual

For 1989 and later B230F engines

Ignition coil resistance (EZ-116K ignition)

primary (terminal 1 & 15) 0.6-1.0 ohms

secondary (terminal 1 & center tower) 6.5-9.0 ohms

--

You must remove all wiring.

terminal 1 (-)
terminal 15; (+)








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Coil 200

Careful with your decimals.

Those are thousands of ohms when measuring from the tower.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.








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Coil 200

OK, so did I measure the ohms wrong for the center measurements? Do I need to switch the ohm scale to a different setting on my meter?

Also, so what's the deal with the sparks I observed coming out from the coil connection points?

Are these things an indicator that the coil is bad, or do I need to do better tests?

Thanks,

Tom
--
1992 Volvo 240 & 1998 Volvo C70








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Coil 200

when I did the coil test you describe I got nothing also with my brand new pricey multimeter.
realized my meter doesn't read above 4k ohms! hence the non reading .
perhaps your meter same.

has to be something simple Dan

gary c








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Coil 200

Your coil appears to be fine, replace the plug wires with bougicord and replace the dead battery.
Dan








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Coil 200

Unless Tom is using a very high scale there should be 6-7,000 ohms between the primary and secondary windings. If his reading are accurate, the primary and secondary are shorted. But I can't imagine that the car would run with them shorted.

Greg







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