NBG

Okay I have done the following things and I'm worried that I'm going to have a polarity problem. Here goes.

I have a 91 with the HEI with the externally mounted coil. I've been having some idle problems so a few months ago I replaced the coil. Now the coils in these cars, are they polarity sensitive?

Today I decided that I should probably do the pick up coil. So I removed the distributor, pulled the gear, but found that I couldn't pull the shaft through, so I removed the reluctor to get the pickup coil out. However I damanged the reluctor, but it already had a crack in it so I had planned on replacing it anyways.

Anyways, the old pickup coil had a yellow wire, the new one (Wells I think) had a white wire. And I have read that yellow signifies one polarity and white and every other color signifies another. So Do I have the worng polarity pickup coil?

And then I guess there is a possiblity that I have the wrong polarity ignition coil two?

How does one check the polarity on either.

Is this something I should worry about.

Lastly, how do you orientate the reluctor when you press is back onto the shaft.

There is no keying or marking, it can basically go on with any orientation....it would seem.


Thanks

-Glenn

JakeJr

This subject has come up from time to time on different sites and the opinions differ as to whether it matters or not.

All I can tell you is what the GM Service Manual says, which, in essence, is that if the pick up coil wire is yellow you must use a coil with a yellow wire.

If the pickup coil wire is any color OTHER than yellow, then you can use a coil with any color EXCEPT yellow.

The troubleshooting section identifies stalling as one of the problems caused by not properly matching the colors.

Whether this is the cause of your problem is anyone's guess, but why use mis-matched components when trying to track down a problem -especially when GM says not to.

Hope this helps.

Jake

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1986 Corvette Coupe, 415 CID, Edelbrock 6073s, ZZ9

[This message has been edited by JakeJr (edited February 21, 2001).]

NBG

I'm using this part because it is the only one I can get my hands on immediatly.

I'm still curious about the orientaion of the reluctor.

-Glenn

JETHROIROC

Jake, you serious man? D#@$, I just put one with a white and green wire into my IROC, but the one that came out had a yellow wire. Maybe that's what's making the car run like crap, but it did before that too. Should I yank the distributor again?

JakeJr

Here's the exact quote from the 1986 GM Corvette Service Manual.

"The color of the pick-up coil connector has to be yellow if one of the ignition coil leads is yellow. If the ignition coil has a white lead, any pick-up coil connector except yellow is OK".

The first sentence is pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

The second sentence is usual "GM speak" and needs some thought to understand. GM switches from talking about the color of the pick-up coil wire (first sentence) as the controlling factor as to which coil to use TO using the color of the ignition coil wire as the determining factor (sentence two) as to which pick-up coil wire color to use.

What I listed in my previous post was, in part, my understanding of what GM means. I hope I didn't confuse the issue even more.

So, if your coil has a WHITE wire, your pick-up coil CANNOT have a yellow wire but can have any other color.

If your pick-up coil has a yellow wire you MUST use a coil that has a yellow wire.

Of course, the manual does not address the issue of an externally mounted coil like you have. It only deals with the in-cap coil wire colors.

I've seen ads in several different mags and catalogs that specifically identify the coils for our engine family by wire color. So my thinking is that the wire color MUST matter.

Hope this helps.

Jake

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1986 Corvette Coupe, 415 CID, Edelbrock 6073s, ZZ9

[This message has been edited by JakeJr (edited February 21, 2001).]

JETHROIROC

Thanks for that bit of information, man. I'll be doing a little checking into it, but the old P/U coil I pulled did have a yellow wire and I think the new one I put in had a white wire. This could turn out to suck .

NBG

Okay I talked to a guy who I buy parts from at a GM dealership, and he claims that there was only one part number for the pickup coil and ingntion coil, for hei distributors since 1987.

I have a feeling that this white yellow wire only applies to the pre 87.

The only problem is, what if the pu coils in the pre 87 and the post 87 were physically the same and parts stores sold both as if they were the same, so you might have the problem of getting a reversed polarity PU for your post 87 car.

I don't think there should be a problem with the ignition coils for use dudes with the externelly mounted coil. There should only be one type.

But I'm still not sure about the PU coil

-Glenn

PS the one I pulled out was yellow and the one i put in was white...I think it was a "Wells" part

JETHROIROC

Mine was GP Sorenson, never occurred to me that the wire insulation color meant anything. I didn't see anything about it in my '90 Helm service manual just now, so maybe it is just a precaution for pre-1987.

JakeJr

Like I said earlier, there are differeing opinions on this color issue.

I called a couple of places and they told me it makes no difference. When I went to O'Reilly's Auto Parts, their computer wanted to know which color I want - yellow or white for the coil.

Check some of the catalogs, PAW, Summit, etc., and they specify coils by wire color.

You may be right about pre 87 colors; as I said I was referencing an 86 GM manual.

Does anyone have a post 86 GM manual for comparison?

Jake

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1986 Corvette Coupe, 415 CID, Edelbrock 6073s, ZZ9