Mallory dizzy and Ingnition coil set up

[maston]

Hi All,
How many wires should there be on the "+" ignition coil terminal when using a mallory dizzy set up with a ballast please ?
I have looked at Mallory's website and my set up does not look right ?
I only have 1 wire going to the "+" terminal on the coil which is from the ballast. I have no other wires connected to the "+" terminal of the coil ???
Reading some info about the mallory dizzies they say to leave all other wires that go to the "+" terminal.
But I don't have any others ???
The red ignition wire goes to one end of the ballast and there is a red wire that goes from the other end of the ballast to the "+" terminal of the coil.
Below is a pic which I hope makes more sense
I am wondering if the 2 white wires that are at the bottom of the ballast should actually be on the "+" terminal of the ignition coil ?
I basically have a hot starting problem which when the engine is hot I am not getting a spark.
Thank you all for your replies
Regards
Ian

[adam quantrill]

The mystery is - some starter motor solenoids have an extra terminal to bypass the ballast - so when you're cranking and battery volts are low - less than 10V and usually 8-9V - the coil gets its full voltage.

I have seen this on older Rover V8 installations.

If you want to take advantage of this effect you could rig up a relay - rig it from the ignition cranking relay and switch battery + to the coil +. You can't do a direct connection as the coil + will power the solenoid - however you could put a power diode in the way to prevent the reverse flow - that might be simpler.

[Wedg1e]

maston said:

I am wondering if the 2 white wires that are at the bottom of the ballast should actually be on the "+" terminal of the ignition coil ?

No, they shouldn't. If the coil runs a ballast it won't be a 12v coil but an 8v. The ballast resistor drops the 12v to 8v to avoid cooking the coil, which is what will happen if you take the white wires (plain white is '12v ignition on' or '12v ignition switched').
If the starter solenoid on the side of the starter motor has a spare spade terminal (not all do, as Adam says) then that is the ballast bypass output; it would be OK to run a wire from there to the coil '+', which then supplies the coil with the full battery voltage but only whilst cranking the engine... so the coil has best chance of making maximum output voltage whilst not getting hot enough to cause damage. When you let go of the key, the starter solenoid feed disconnects and the coil then runs from the ballast-supplied voltage.

[maston]

Adam/Ian,

I think I understand your replies (thank you) which leads me on to my next question which is that Mallory said it could be the module in the distributor that is faulty (causing the lack of spark when engine is hot) which I have subsequently bought a new one. Do you think this may cure my "Hot Engine Start Problems ?"

Many Thanks

Regards

Ian

[Danny Hoffman]

Just noticed the boot of your HT lead has a bit missing. Could your problems by a dodgy HT lead from the coil to the dizzy?

[maston]

Hi Danny,
Sorry I have now renewed the coil lead so that is now ok.
Thanks anyway
Regards
Ian

[maston]

Adam/Ian,

I think I understand your replies (thank you) which leads me on to my next question which is that Mallory said it could be the module in the distributor that is faulty (causing the lack of spark when engine is hot) which I have subsequently bought a new one. Do you think this may cure my "Hot Engine Start Problems ?"

Many Thanks

Regards

Ian

[adam quantrill]

It's quite possible but when you install it make sure you use a thin smear of heatsink compound or else the new one will go the same way...

[maston]

I wonder if the existing module just needs some heatsink compound ?

Thanks Adam

Regards

Ian