Date:         Fri, 8 Jan 1999 18:04:07 -0600
Reply-To:     Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Subject:      Re: If it's not one thing, it's another...
Comments: To: EMZ <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.SOL.3.96.990108134753.13780A-100000@yoda>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>On Fri, 8 Jan 1999, Seth C. Bruggeman wrote:
>
>> Well, thanks to everyone's input (esp. Yau-Man who provided the exact coil
>> checking method I was looking for), I traced my troubles to a bad coil,
>> replaced the offending part, and am now back on the road.  One last
>> question, though...am I treating a symptom of a greater problem?  In other
>> words, why would the coil go bad?  I realize the bad coil covered a lot of
>> miles, but coils seem like the kind of part that goes bad generally for
>> reasons other than mechanical failure.  Any ideas...???
>>
>> Seth B.
>> '84 Westy
>>
>   My bet is that you have platimun plug in the engine. They
>killed coil after coil in My 1980 Van until I put 2 and 2 together.
>
>                                            Eric

I respectfully disagree with this diagnosis. A bad coil wire, on the other
hand, might cause the insulation in the coil to break down.

In terms of electrical properties, one hunk of ceramic and metal with a
spark gap behaves very much like another, provided it's shaped the same.

Joshua Van Tol -- jjvantol@uswest.net