38 replies to this topic

[bunch1980]

Sprite 1275cc
1993
Not long had my mini and quite suprised by amount of wires/pipes/cables under bonnet lol first off i want to wire my tachomemter to the coil, and in the TIM instructuions says something about a ballast coil? and it needs to be done differently then, how do i know if i have a ballast coil? all i know is i have the lucas
electronic ignition that was standard at the time.
There is about 4 small wires coming out of coil along with large one in middle how do i know which is + and - ??

Edited by bunch1980, 26 March 2010 - 08:44 AM.

[Carlzilla]

IF it is the same as mine as mines a 1989 mayfair, it should have one side of the coil with a pink/white wire attached to it, im sure that is the 'positive' side of the coil

Edited by Carlzilla, 26 March 2010 - 01:04 PM.

[bunch1980]

IF it is the same as mine as mines a 1989 mayfair, it should have one side of the coil with a brown/pink wire attached to it, im sure that is the 'positive' side of the coil

Thanks will try and remove coil to get a better look to would it actually say + or - on there?

[Carlzilla]

it may do, but dont count on it

the pink/white wire may look different if its faded, as mine has

Edited by Carlzilla, 26 March 2010 - 01:04 PM.

[bunch1980]

it may do, but dont count on it

the brown/pink wire may look white/pink if its faded, as mine has

Hehe thanks ahh brown to white then lol, well looking at haynes manual, I shouldnt have a brown/pink wire coming out of coil.
but then am i looking at correct wiring diagram, i think 18. is correct as it says 1988 on carb models??

[Carlzilla]

one sec, ill check mine for you

[Carlzilla]

right-o, wiring diagram 18 it is, itll be the same wiring as mine, 12a 38 is the diagram, 12a 37 is the key to it, this had me confused for a while until i figured it out

edit : component number 14 is the coil

Edited by Carlzilla, 26 March 2010 - 10:31 AM.

[bunch1980]

right-o, wiring diagram 18 it is, itll be the same wiring as mine, 12a 38 is the diagram, 12a 37 is the key to it, this had me confused for a while until i figured it out

edit : component number 14 is the coil

Thanks thats what i thought and will look tonight to see if colours on coil match manual if not i will burn the manual lol!

[Carlzilla]

haha, dont do that, youll regret it when youre stuck with something and youll need another one

some call it the 'bible' lol

[bunch1980]

haha, dont do that, youll regret it when youre stuck with something and youll need another one

some call it the 'bible' lol

hehe i wont, i just find them confusing compared to true workshop/service manuals, this was case on motorbikes any way
when i had haynes manual, for my latest kawasaki i have official service manual and its so clear!

[Carlzilla]

because of haynes, i spent a few hours drawing out my own wiring diagrams, definately helps having it broken down into separate circuits

[bunch1980]

because of haynes, i spent a few hours drawing out my own wiring diagrams, definately helps having it broken down into separate circuits

Yeah bet that helps, and why dont haynes do colour diagrams now, the book aint cheap for sure so they could easily update it really instead of just copying old ones. I have done same myself in pdf writer before by drawing colours over the top!

[IainR]

Using a multi-meter, the resistance across the terminals with all wires disconnected is 3 ohms for a non ballast and between 1 and 2 ohms (mine is 1.2 ohms) for a ballast coil.

[Dan]

Carlzilla, please read the large warning about giving advice which is at the top of every technical page. The advice you are giving here is very much incorrect and could potentially be quite expensive. There is no brown wiring to the coil and never should be. There is however wiring near the coil that is brown/red on later cars which is the cranking signal and if you were to hook a tacho up to that it would be destroyed when you crank the engine. If you've found a brown wire feeding the coil in any wiring diagram for a Mini, you've read it wrong.

Ballasted cars have two wires feeding the coil. One is pink/white and fairly thick, the other is white/yellow and much thinner. Neither is a faded brown.

Bunch1980, as you have stated that you have the Lucas electronic ignition you might have trouble making the Tim gauge work. You do have a ballast coil but the ballast is not supplied on the positive side by the wiring, it's controlled by the electronics. The coil supply should be from a single white wire from the loom. There will be another wire connected there which is powering the distributor electronics. The negative terminal will have white/black wiring. The coil cap is marked + and - to help you identify the terminals too.

Your car should already be wired for a tacho, the wiring should be present behind the dash. If there are 2 white/black wires connected to the coil negative, one is for a tacho and the other end of it runs to the dash.

[Ethel]

If it's factory fitted electronic ignition it has its own coil specification - GCL143. It should be an easy fit read up on RVI & RVC.