Distributor swap

[chatdgouttiere]

So I got my new EMPI distributor in the mail today, and decided to give it a go. My old distributor only has one cable going to terminal 15 on the coil. My new distributor has two cables (a black and a red). What do I do? So I searched my service manual, and discovered that everything that is supposed to be connected to terminal 15 is connected to terminal 1 on my coil. That actualy makes sense? But according to the manual, the cable from the starter and the one from the choke should be connected to terminal 15 (it does not specify which terminal for the carburator). If anyone could lift the fog a bit on that, it'd be nice.

[jsturtlebuggy]

#1 on coil is negative side (-)
#15 on coil is positive side (+)

Wire from ignition switch goes to #15(+) positive side of coil. Wires to coil from choke and if you have fuel cutoff solenoid on carb also attach to #15(+)
With using points wire from distributor attaches to #1(-) to negative side of coil. If you have a tachometer it also attaches to #1(-) side of coil.

When using electronic ignition that has both black and red wires, black wire attaches to #1(-) side, red wire attaches to #15(+) side.

Now you can hook up a coil backwards when using points with positive wire to #1(-) and condenser wire to #15(-) and it *will run, but not well, engine will be low on power.
Make sure battery cables are connected correctly too. You do not want ground cable going to stater or ignition switch.

Ignition module in distributor will fry in seconds if hooked up backwards

[chatdgouttiere]

Thank you Joseph! That's everything I need to finish up this job! Much appreciated!

[chatdgouttiere]

With the new distributor finally sitting in and making sure all 5 cables are firmly pushed in at both ends, I sat behind the wheel with my heart pounding and turned the key... again and again... So there's fuel going up, 'cause I can smell it, but there's no sound of fire whatsoever.

So now I'm using terminal 15 as "positive" (red cable from the distributor, ignition switch, choke, cutoff silenoid). I'm afraid to just switch the cables around "just" to try it.

I guess the logical next step would be to test if there actualy is power coming out of the cable from the coil going into the distributor, and then test at least the cable going to cylinder #1, right?

But it annoys me that the engine was running (exactly the way you described it : "not well and low on power") before changing the distributor, knowing that all cables going to the coil were connected wrong...

[chatdgouttiere]

So this is what I verified:

The starter cable is connected to the battery positive terminal, which I guess is an indication that the battery is connected correctly.

Terminal 15 of the distributor is giving me a +12v reading on the multimeter.

With a neighbour turning the ignition key, I did not get any spark from the high voltage cable coming out of the coil (one inch away from the engine block moving slowly down zero inch).

The resistance of the secondary circuit of the coil shows a stable 14.5 kohms, which I believe is good. But the resistance of the primary circcuit is all over the place, and most of the time the display on my voltmeter goes completely blank. Not good, right?

But the car was running (badly, I admit) just before I swapped the distributor!

Could I have fried the coil just by replacing the distributor? Maybe in the order in which I reconnected the calbes? But I did not see any warning in that effect anywhere?

Anyone with such experience?

[jsturtlebuggy]

What coil are you using?
If it is is a stock VW Bosch black coil or the high performance Bosch blue coil, readings should be approximately between the two primary 1(-) and 15(+) 3 ohms and between either the 1 or 15 and secondary (where coil wire goes) should read approximately 10K ohms.
This measuring with no wires connected to coil.
A Stock Bosch coil or the Blue used on a VW engine it drops the voltage to the points to around 9 volts to keep from burning up the points and also it limits voltage to an electronic ignition module.
If you using some other that is not made for a VW air cooled engine, you need to install a ballast resistor between the negative side of coil and points.
With the electronic module I recommend the coil that has the build in resistance.

If you can find a shop that been around the 1970s and earlier they may have a coil tester that can tell if coil is good or bad. It really is a obsolete piece of test equipment for cars that made today. I have one, but I am a little far away from you to test it.

[chatdgouttiere]

I've got the Blue Bosch coil here, and it's brand new from last year.

Yes, the resistance of the primary circuit would start between 50 and 100 when I'd put the probes on the terminals, and then would climb up to a few hundreds, drop back down, go back up again, and so on.

I ordered a new one yesterday, but I went for a cheaper one (the Beru, which according to cip1, is fit for a 68 Beetle).

Something fried the primary circuit of this almost-brand-new coil, and I have no idea what it could be...