Good man... it's likely that slacker RJ, instead of answering questions all day, should be doing some proper work!
Anyone who's been on the forum for any length of time'll know it'd likely grind to a halt without him
Hi Zender, apologies for the delayed response. I’ve had other issues at home and car brake issues, sorted now. Original Coil has a Bosch 1220522016 on top, then VW PN below 0221122349. Primary resistance between pin 15 and pin 1 is 0.9 ohms Secondary resistance between HT port 4 and pin 1 is 2.98 kilo ohms. New Topran Heritage Parts Coil 103240001 Primary resistance between pin 15 and pin 1 is 1.1 ohms Secondary resistance between HT port 4 and pin 1 is 4.7 kilo ohms. Early into my breakdown I ordered and replaced coil (based on your advice -which was perfect advice), didn't sort it but as the coils HT connector bacolite part was larger than my HT leads, I spilt the rubber to bodge it on. Car never started, I got a electrical tingle off body work so I thought my king lead split bodge had electrified the car. Put old coil back on and re did my bodge on the split HT king lead (i used self amalgamating tape this time). Eventually I started troubleshooting from scratch, spark, fuel... Found it wasn't sparking, the test light flickered during cranking from the hall sender to ecu inlet pin, to TCI-h inlet pin, to coil pin 1 and no spark on HT lead so concluded coil was at fault (again, in alignment with your initial advice). Again, put new coil back on, with bodged king lead wrapped in self amalgamating tape this time It tried to fire up ran rough and died. Added new HT leads from distributor to plugs, added new plugs. (note; original bodged HT king lead still on car as it all worked). It runs well now, new coil, new HT leads except king, new spark plugs. Chasing my tail I spent far too much time chasing my tail, probably creating additional problems on the way. A friend told me when a car engine is flooded the plugs wont work (I buy into that as the car was flooded during cranking) and with new coil fired up rough, then new plugs and HT leads, ran well. The only conclusion I can draw is the coil failed, the plugs became petrol flooded with continual cranking, sump filled a bit with petrol, new coil struggled with old plugs, changed plugs, runs sweet. New plugs and HT leads after properly fitting the new coil seems to have been the resolution. Additionally, I had stated I had spark early on, it was a weak spark when tested with original coil, then I 'heard the spark rather than witnessed it with my eyes' so I am very guilty of dodging steps and not properly fault finding. Thanks to everyone for helping. Learning curve for me, I have taken notes and created a go to word document for the future.
Kismet! Made a post about Coils and Ohms not half an hour ago... will add your info. to it and hopefully it'll be of benefit to others, cheers. Your old Bosch coil isn't exactly on the button because of the primary Ohms, but the new Topran is quite a bit off original spec. on both counts. Checking the Ohms is just one part of a bigger picture, coils can malfunction under varying circumstances. Might read as good when tested disconnected, but falter at higher revs. / load.
Zender, thanks for the info, I just searched and found the coils and ohms thread and clicked 'watch thread' as I would like to know more. It is interesting stuff. Yesterda when I disconnected the king lead to measure resistance I guess because of its awkward location I did not get the king lead on properly, car wouldn't start, stressed I started thinking have I knackered the coil somehow. The after market coil has a conical bacolite shroud the king lead rubber boot needs to stretch over. I put some wd40 onto it and pushed it on with a ring spanner. Took 15 seconds to start, stressful times (was it back to a flooded engine - wet plugs scenario). Without this forum, I think many Digifants would be scrapped. I have met older guys who have told me they stopped tinkering with cars when the ECU and all its sensors arrived on the scene. Although there are other vw forums, the shear volume of cars in the UK and english speaking markets make this website the best resource.
There's a lot going on in this thread, some of which I'm struggling to follow. That's partly because I'm trying to learn about the ignition side of things at the moment and lots yet to understand. One thing that does keep catching my eye is your references to the king lead and that it doesn't fit the coil tower easily. It should be a snug, waterproof fit, but not to the extent you had to split the rubber to get it on. Just to rule it out, are you certain it's the correct connection type for your coil which will have a 'Pin' connection? There's an earlier connection type called 'DIN' and they aren't interchangable, having said that I did read a post on the MK1OC about 6 months ago where someone had managed to force the wrong lead onto their coil... don't recall the specifics now but the car did run, if badly. DIN on the left, Pin on the right - If you're still using the King lead that has had it's rubber boot split, personally I'd replace it regardless of connection type. Likewise if it's the original or just old... it's been put under a lot of stress recently and may well be on it's last legs. Check it's Ohms, should be close to 1K Do the same with all your plug leads, they'll ideally be around 5K. Just did my own (new and Bosch) and they're bang on, also did a used Halfords set I got thrown in with a dizzie I bought. King lead on that is 2K and two of the leads have no continuity, the remaining ones were 6K... proof they die either completely or gradually despite maybe looking like new. Your rotor arm should be 1K Your original coil has excessive primary resistance and the Topran is worse still, add in more surplus resistance with the leads, maybe the rotor arm and incorrect plug gaps and your spark may well be much too weak to start the car. Your battery's had a bit of a work out recently too, what's its resting volts when the cars turned off... should be at least 12.6v. Just random thoughts, something for you to maybe follow up on yourself.
Hi Zender, thank you for the additional info. I'm no mechanic, 24 years ago I did work on ships diesels and plant, however these skills are lost now!!!! There you didn't have to pay for the parts yourself, everything had a workshop manual very different to a golf. In fact, fault finding on this car has luckily only been every two years or so, what happened to me is I forgot the steps initially carried out two years ago. Now, i'm trying to work through methodically as per Digifant guides and forum help, then I see opportunity to change more than one item in one go, so I lose track of what the fix is. Last few weeks I learned the spark plug gap needs to be dry, if petrol wet the petrol just allows current flow with no spark, simple concept but one i'm guilty of overlooking. Honestly i've sent all of us on a wild goose chase and i'm sorry about that. The coil tower as you call it on my new coil is conical, it is in such an awkward place that when I took the cable off to measure resistance for this thread I couldn't get it back on correctly. I added wd40 to rubber boot, screw drivered the pin hole wider on HT cable (as it is not DIN type as per your pic). Heat, vibration and conicle shape have allowed the HT king to slide off, then stupidly I flooded it trying to start. Removed plugs, vented and dried cylinders, cleaned plugs and electro solvented gaps, then it ran rough until I can only imagine heat cleaned spark plug deposits (20 seconds). The new set of HT leads from same manufacturer has a king lead to coil tower boot too small so I continued to use the old king lead. I had to split distributor end and reversed it to put this end over coil tower post, then the car body seemed electrified!!! oops. So I instead forced the tight end onto coil, then self amalgamated split and so far so good. Car runs really well now, occasional bucking when cold but there is one vacuum leak to airbox cold start system I think i'm going to blank off. Battery is 12.3 volts I think, there is a green indicator symbol showing its health is good. Car runs well now, when it started yesterday I went for a 40 mile blast, no issues. I've started my own little word document with key info like; flooding and fixing, ignition system logical checks from hall to spark plug, all pin numbers on ecu. Air intake clean filters/compression simple checks. Timing basics. Fuel system logical steps/actions and how to bridge relay pins etc. Pressures to expect on manifold etc. Lots of lessons for me! Thanks
