resistive wire in ignition circuit.

[barbermi]

hi all, post number one coming up...

i recently bought a '80' HJ45 that has a 308 conversion in it.
the guy before me left the ignition on for a long time and could never get the car to start again.
i found the distributor (electronic) to be knackered.
while i was on the first drive i had got 10km or so and something happened. the engine died, the lights had a fit then blew and i came to a stop.. under the bonnet i found a wire that had destroyed itself with heat. it look as though it is ia resistive wire or fuse wire of some sort. does anyone know what the wire is for? i was going to cut it out and replace it with regular auto wire.

cheers in advance

[RUFF]

Thats a fusable link. You must have a short somewhere to have blown it. I wouldnt replace it with normal wire. If you have a short somewhere next you will have a fire with out it.

[ricduza]

It may be the ballast resistor for the ignition circuit. If it is close to the coil and its resistive wire across a ceramic block, it is meant to cut down the voltage to the coil. If it was wired up incorrectly, it can damage the coil, so replace it with a new unit and make sure it is correctly wired into your system.
Ric

[RUFF]

It may be the ballast resistor for the ignition circuit. If it is close to the coil and its resistive wire across a ceramic block, it is meant to cut down the voltage to the coil. If it was wired up incorrectly, it can damage the coil, so replace it with a new unit and make sure it is correctly wired into your system.
Ric

If it has a 308 with electronic ignition it should not have a balast resistor. The EI needs a 12 volt sorce to run properly.

[bigcam]

if the coil was supplied with power constantly without a resistor (if a resistor type coil was used) it has most likely boiled the resin and shorted the primary side, then pulled too much current and fried the fusible link, replace the fusible link, replace the coil with the correct 12v non resistor type and see how you go, you don't have to run the resistor just don't leave the ignition on without the car running (to test) recommend fitting a resistor if required in the long term.