Condescending Condenser...

[gionetz]

Just an FYI here... We have been troubleshooting intermittent ignition issues that have been getting worse. 75' spider started running a little rough upon first start-up then "seemed" to clear away after a couple minutes (never to 100% but...better) Been driving us nuts, wondering about floats etc. finally she shut down last night "like" it was out of fuel and wouldn't start til after a five minute break. (been battling a bad alternator, bad regulator connection and questioning some "hotwiring" to the fuel pump...which is why fuel was also in question). Already put a new ignition coil, tested low idle solenoid "okay"....well, it was the condenser on the coil for the radio, yup, all headaches went away by removing it. I have learned to ALWAYS check the condensers...the hard way!! - I will worry about "pops" on the radio later (which is minimal at best anyway) - Just wanted to share!

[westy64]

....well, it was the condenser on the coil for the radio,

thank you for sharing.
but what (and where) is it exactly ?

[azruss]

jean,
This is an aftermarket item that comes with the radio. designed to eliminate RF noise from the ignition. Required for AM, not so much for FM. Location is wherever the owner decided to put it.

[gionetz]

In my case, it was connected directly to the ignition coil, and when I swapped the old coil for a new one, I connected the darn thing back up!!...errrr !!! - Lesson learned!...it's still hard to believe that was the cause of SO MANY issues but, we've put about 200 miles on it over the last two days with several start-ups....no problems, really running pretty good!

[hayesbd]

I've got one of those, too. I'll remove it and see if mileage and idle improve!

Thanks,
Brian

[westy64]

jean,
This is an aftermarket item that comes with the radio. designed to eliminate RF noise from the ignition. Required for AM, not so much for FM. Location is wherever the owner decided to put it.

Thank you sir !

[highdesertexplorer]

It's actually not an aftermarket part. A bad condenser can cause the points to fail prematurely, and a host of other electrical problems. It is an integral part of any points ignition system. It absorbs energy from the coil to prevent it from damaging other electrical components (voltage regulators for instance). It also serves to minimize noise in the radio...but you should not run for long without it.

[hayesbd]

I think he is mentioning a different condenser. I had one on the coil as well as the regular ignition condenser on the distributor. I have removed the one on the coil (connected to the B+ terminal). If you remove the one across the points, they will not last very long.

Brian