Electronic ignition dizzy question

Aug 28, 2007 5 Replies
C

I am looking at a '70 beetle. It has a vacuum advance dizzy with electronic ignition which I am not familiar with instead of points and condensor. I can't tell the make. While checking the advance with the homemade Muir lamp I noticed it stayed lit dimly all the way around the clock until it got to about 7.5 and then lit up fully. Is this normal for electric ignitions?



The engine takes takes about 6 seconds to catch although all the tune up settings are good. It idles fine but has an intermittent miss at speed.



David



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S

That's probably normal leakage thru the electronics.

The long cranking may have nothing to do with the spark; more likely slight flooding.

If the miss occurs at odd times under load, inspect every push-on terminal in the Coil circuit for looseness. Then check the distributor advance plate for the tiny braided pigtail lead. If broken, the pigtail won't provide proper grounding as the advance plate rotates.

Speedy Jim

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C

Thanks so much! I'll check those items tomorrow. The mosquitos were too fierce this evening. David

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C

Thanks also. This group is great and the ongoing education of owning a beetle continues for me.

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B

Buy a CDI unit, hook it up to the points replacement module and your stock coil, and voila! Starts within one full rotation, that is my experience anyway.

J.

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