Hello All..What is the electrical pull that a started solenoid uses and about how many volts does the coil get during starting and what do the spark plugs need to fire??????????????.. My battery shows 11.2volts, my starter solenoid pulls three volts so by the time my coil need volts it's only 8volts at the coil.. Ok, is my battery bad, solenoid bad, or do I have a bad ground someplace.. I had no problems for about two years,now this is occuring...... I'm not educated in auto electricity so I have not idea... Issue, the engine will only start when I let off the ignition switch, on seldom occasions it will start when the key is in the start position???????????????????????????? HELP.... Duane..
Sounds like your "ballast bypass" is intermittent, since you say that on seldom occasions it will start with the key in the start position. There is normally a second small terminal on the starter solenoid. This terminal is supposed to deliver full battery voltage to the coil while the starter is engaged. When the starter is not engaged, there is another circuit that normally goes through a ballast resistor. The reason they do this is to deliver a hotter spark to the plugs for starting. The ballast is used to drop the voltage to the coil a bit so the points and coil don't burn up. Your car starts when you let off the ignition switch because the engine is still "coasting" a bit from the starter turning it. When you release the key, the ballast is delivering voltage to the coil. Does your battery read 11.2 volts during cranking, or is that it's voltage with no load? If that is the voltage with no load, you have a slightly discharged, or bad battery.
When the battery is fully charged, and there is no load on it, it should read about 12.5 volts. If your battery only shows 11.2 volts with everything turned off (measured at the battery with an accurate volt meter), there is a problem with the charging system, or the battery is old and about dead, or something.
I don't have a ballest resistor, I have pertronix ignition..Looking at the chart from imnezrider I'm only getting 40%,,OOPS..Guess I'll a new battery.. Thanks Duane.
If you have a battery charger, try charging the battery first. If the battery is more than a few years old, it probably needs to be replaced anyways.
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