My car runs regardless of which way round I wire the coil, can I cause damage if wired incorrect?

Question

The positive and negative wires leading to my replacement hi power coil both run the car regardless of which way round they are wired I know the white wire is negative and I know which is the negative side of the coil.

Does anyone know if it matters which way round they are are and why if so it has to be correctly wired. I dont want to find I've burnt something out without knowing what damage it may cause.

I will be fitting a petronix ignitor electronic ignition to the car to do away with the points so I will have another two wires to connect to the coil aswell. This I dont have a problem with at present.

many thanks for any information which may put my mind at rest

The car is a 1968 Mustang, single point distributor (302V8)

Answer 1

The car will run either way but at about 20% reduction efficiency when wired backwards. There are two coils inside, the primary and secondary. The primary charge collapses onto the secondary when triggered (i.e. points or ignition module) and that is where you get your spark for the spark plugs. Under heavy load conditions is where you may see a problem if wired wrong. For points this is a non-issue, but for certain ignitions systems that are electronic (ignition modules tied to an Electronic Control Module (ECM)) they may be more sensitive and could missfire or fail.

You don't say what make or year but wiring correctly is obviously the best. Positive is fed the battery source and negative goes to either points / ignition module.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 2

Since you know which wires go where, wire it up with the proper polarity. With the points ignition, it may not matter, but if you go with the electronic ignition it could cause a hassle. Good luck.

Answer 3

the car will run with the wire on it either way,but one way its going to have more resistance on it than the other,so it will reduce the amount of voltage,it will cause it to run a little different,id wire it up right ,since you know how the wire goes on ,always wire it to the side it goes on,it may also shorten the coil life on it by doing it this way,good luck on it hope this helps.

Answer 4

listen to what my husband says,he owns a repair shop, good luck,hopes this helps and don,t forget to change your air and fuel filters too.