johnr@tekig.UUCP (John Rettig) (08/07/84)
x My L-16 Datsun engine in my '72 510 has developed a nasty appetite for ignition condensers. I have checked the obvious; i.e. coil, ballast resistor, and points all appear normal, and the DC voltage at the coil positive terminal is about 6.5 volts when idling normally. (The stock dual point distributor has been replaced with a '68 single point unit, incidently.) The mode of failure is an occasional ignition cutout at higher RPM, gradually increasing in frequency of occurance and in duration of cutout (this is, in my experience, fairly typical of condenser failure). I have noted that the the Datsun condensers last longer than the generic cheap ones (sold under the IAPCO label around here), but I still get about 1000 miles maximum on a part before replacement is necessary. I am starting to get the impression that such failures must be generic for these engines, as the distributor is in a rather hot location, with the condenser facing the exhaust manifold. While I admit I could troubleshoot it using any number of approaches, the process would be slow and not very conclusive due to the gradual failure mode. If anyone has had this problem and solved it, could you tell me what you did to solve it? If there is sufficient interest, I will post a summary.
joel@sunrise.UUCP (Joel Shandelman) (08/14/84)
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