Lumenition problem on a Sprint

[PaulB]

Hi,

My Sprint has the lumenition mk007 system fitted, I am using a 12V DLB105 lucas coil.

Yesterday I had a problem with the car after about 1 hour running, I stopped the engine and it would not restart. Investigations showed that the coil was very hot, so hot you couldn't keep your hand on it.

After it cooled done for 10 minutes or so, it restarted no problem.

To get me home with some confidence, I changed to coil to a new unit and it ran perfectly going home, again about 1 hour of running. When getting home, the new coil was really hot.

Any ideas? I know that some other forum people are also using the Lumenition MK007. I wonder whether there is a fault with the lumenition module? Any thought or suggestions?

I'm wondering whether I would be better using a balasted coil? What coil are people using? Any thought or suggestions would be really appreciated?

Regards, Paul.

[Jon Tilson]

I'm not familiar with this system but if the coil is getting hot it means you dont have a long enough dead period....equivalent of points open.

Can you measure it with a dwell meter and adjust to book figure. Coil should recover....



Jonners

[soe8m]

Hello Paul,

It's the coil itself. A magnetronic can fry very easy. At my work i did fit in the past a lot of these but these kits are very sensitive for coil resistance. Many did fry after a few km's. If the resistance is too low, the current switched by the magnetronic will be too high. I do not fit them regulary anymore but i only had succes with a non ballasted blue bosch coil. Even red bosch with external resistor was a bit to low. The Lucas coils, even the sports one cannot and may not even look at the Bosch coils. These are superior and resistance stable. If your Lucas sports has not the resistance value what it must have or does vary too much at different temps it can ruin your ignition. Some are lucky and have old wiring with a bit resistance and the total if all is ok to run a magnetronic for years. If a customer does want one now i only use a new blue bosch and that works. I do never thust inbuild resistors or external and non bosch coils when using this kit.

Jeroen

[Dolly-Nut]

Too many volts at the coil due to alternator overcharging?

[matt of the vivas]

Its the wrong coil, 100%.
(we are lumenition agents at work)
Optronic will NOT work happily with a Sports coil, which is what a DLB105 is. The primary resistance in the coil is wrong, and it will cause the coil to overheat and eventually fail.
You need to be using standard coil, i.e. a DLB101 if you have bypassed the ballast, or a DLB102 if the ballast is still connected.
I doubt the module is faulty, they normally work or they dont, but if you are worried you are welcome to send the module to me and i will test it on our Lumenition test rig, free, just pay the return postage.
Thanks - Matt.

[tangocharlie1]

Im sure Lumenition do a coil that comes with the Magnatronic system as part of a kit, i've had one fitted to my sprint for many years it is blue in colour and uses the existing ballast resistor set up.

[PaulB]

Thanks for your help guys.

However, I'm a little confused about the alternative DLB101 coil. Having checked the specifications for both the DLB015 and DLB101, they both appear to have the same primary coil resistance of 1.5ohms?

[soe8m]

My wish is that lucas never produced coils......

Jeroen

[PaulB]

Quick update.

I have now fitted a Lumenition MS3 coil which is the coil they recommend to use with the MK007. I am using the standard dolomite ballast resistor rather than the one supplier with the coil.

Everything seems OK and the car starts and runs well. Haven't taken it for a run yet to see whether the new coil gets hot, but I suspect it will be fine.

One last concern relates to ballast bypass. I am using a hightorque starter which doesn't provide ballast bypass. It appears to start fine without so will see how it goes. If I run into starting issues, I'll probably revert back to the original Triumph starter.

Regards, Paul.

[dursley92]

I wouldn't worry about the ballast bypass for starting. That is only necessary in very cold/wet conditions when the voltage drops or the spark is weak on a standard points system.
Your modern electronic system doesn't need the temporary boost its intended to provide.

[Jon Tilson]

You need to read this and make an informed judgement.

https://www.dollywiki.co.uk/wiki/Igniti ... ss_removal

Where is the power for the lumenition coming from? Dont power it from coil plus after ballast....

Jonners

[soe8m]

You need to read this and make an informed judgement.

https://www.dollywiki.co.uk/wiki/Igniti ... ss_removal

Where is the power for the lumenition coming from? Dont power it from coil plus after ballast....

Jonners

That is only one side of the story.

Jeroen