nba1341

Ok so I just noticed that there is a little bit of oil at the top of my coil. I first noticed a tiny bit on the bottom of it (leaked down from the top) when I was changing my starter.


Why would my coil be leaking oil? And is it going to die soon?


P.S. Orig had a flamethrower coil and it died on the freeway so I had to buy one from auto zone and got an accell one exactly 1 year ago. So this accell coil is 1 year old.

67mustang302

Coils are transformers. The oil helps to cool them. If it's leaking it will need to be replaced, since air will get in and the oil will vaporize into the air pocket, mix, and probably ignite, and your coil will explode...or at least burn up in flames.

That's what causes some transformer explosions(oil filled ones anyway).

nba1341

should i get another oil filled one? Also what brands are recommended?

tx65coupe

I agree, it needs to be replaced soon.

What distributor / ignition are you running? Do you have the Pertronix Ignitor? It can make a difference which coil to get, since they come in different resistance values.

Do you remember if you had a Flamethrower or Flamethrower II coil before?

Where do you have it mounted? I relocated mine to the inner fender to keep the engine heat away from it.

nba1341

its a motorcraft distributor. coil was a flamethrower 1 oil filled before.

67mustang302

They're all oil filled to my knowledge. The non oil ones for industrial stuff are usually wrapped in porcelain. But a 220+KV power station transformer is quite a different beast from an automotive ignition coil.

nba1341

They sell that flame thrower one in a black unit on summit that is expoxy filled. Not sure what the function does.

2+2GT

The point of oil or epoxy filling is to allow heat transfer out of the coil, preventing hot spots inside. If yours is leaking oil, it's either defective, damaged, or has been run at excessive voltage. Before you spring for a new coil, check the voltage to the coil. I'd hate to see you fry the new one.

nba1341

What voltage should it be getting? 12-14v im assuming?

2+2GT

Nope. More like 7V. 14V would certainly explain why the oil is fleeing the scene. The coil should only get the full 12V while the starter is engaged.