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I'm pretty sure it's the pickup coil (archive)
[ Follow Ups ] [ 3-series (E21) Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]
Posted by greg on October 10, 2000 at 20:43:59:

In Reply to: Re: Help! Coil or Distributor Problem? posted by Tom F. on October 07, 2000 at 16:47:04:

Hi Tom,
Thanks for replying. After a lot of web browsing I believe I've found out that this particular problem is the pickup coil inside the distributor. It appears that others have had this problem too, and all my testing points now to the distributor.

An important test was testing the voltage from the neg terminal of the coil while it was startable and while it is not startable. The voltage fluctuated (as it should) while cranking in the startable mode, but was constant at ~12 V when not startable. This means it is the distributor.

I'm going to post a new thread now hoping that someone can tell me how time-consuming the replacement is. (I'm about to donate the car to charity, and don't want to put a whole lot of time into it, although I would like it to be running ok when I donate it.)

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