ignition module rebuild?

"William R. Watt" < | Wondering if anyone has rebuilt an ignition module. I bought a new one | today and will be taking the old one apart to see what it looks like | inside. It's off a simple feed back carburetor system on a 14 year old | vehicle. I saw a simple curcuit diagram for one of these in an auto | electronics book, 2-3 transitors and 2-3 resistors and a capcitor if I | remeber right. I was wondering if, instead of spending $150 on a new one | old ones could be rebuilt. Say an hour's labour at $50 for an electronics | tech? I've bought two ignition modules and neither was on an exchange | basis.

It's not hard to do technically however for the older stuff there is a problem souring replacement transistors. For the news stuff especially those with software the manufacture owns the copy right and you can't just blow a new chip.

I've also seen some engine bay electronics where they poured in some kind of resin or epoxy to seal it against wear and tear. These are (obviously) not repairable.

It's really not practical to repair the modules.

Your auto electronic book probably left out some details. If I can count every microscopic transistors, they come up to about, say 30, not to mention an array of zeners, capacitors, and resistors. The usual suspects is the coil driver transistor. I'd start replacing that - probably sells for 1.35 to $4.95.

I took my old one apart last night. Its a plastic cap glued over a metal base. It came apart easily in good shape after running a knife along the seam a few times. The contacts are moulded into the plastic cap. The electronics are on a chip glued(?) to the base. I didn't try prying it off. There are only a few electonic components on the chip. Looks pretty simple. The cap it filled with a clear jell before the base is glued on. A book I have calls that "potting". Its supposed to insulate the electronics from outside interference. I did not remove any of the potting gel. I can see through it. When I go to the electronics store to buy some high temperature di-electric heat sink grease for the mews module I'll ask about reparing the old module. Some day this car will be a treasured antique and the collector will want spare ignition modules. :)

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