Mine is, now. Was sideways.
There was another thread somewhere (can't find it now) where this was brought up. Coils will fail if not mounter upright, they said. Something about the oil in there and uneven heat build up if there is a bubble in there lying sideways. Could be. Anybody have the straight skinny on this one??
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Everything I've read says oil filled coils should be vertical and epoxy filled coils it doesn't matter.
HAHA! I just looked at my coil and said "hey that thing is leaking I bet it should be right side up" then sat down and opened SOC and this is the first thing I saw. Nothing like being on topic.
Pertronix flame thrower, oil filled for sure
It is not cool to get that oil on your skin. I can't recall what it's made from, but it's the same stuff we used for transmitter "dummy loads" (an antenna replacement used for testing radio transmitter output power) and when I would beg a gallon or two from the New England Electric depot they would always tell me to wear gloves when using it.
If it's the same stuff they use in older oil filled transformers it's loaded with PCBs. Whatever that really is I'm not sure, but in car vs. utility pole accidents, if the transformer fell off the pole and cracked open we had to call Clean Harbors Inc. to clean up the area. Toxic stuff.
When I was a kid, the transformer on the pole outside our house was replaced when it started leaking and dripping oil on the grass at the base of the pole.
We lived there another ten years or so, but no grass ever grew on that spot again.
Sometimes I think it may have permanently affected my sense of humor, too.
Yup, looks like it was the PCB version of the oil. That nasty stuff was banned in the USA in 1979 but we all know that China is the most polluted and 'wild-west' kind of manufacturing place on earth and most of our auto parts come from there, so.......... Most Chinese companies I've dealt with buy all of their stuff from the lowest (local) bidder so who knows what they use?
PCB's were replaced by Mineral Oil (it doesn't conduct electricity, either) and Mineral Oil is being replaced by something with Nano-particles in it. I don't know if anything with Nano-particles in it is all that safe - Some people say so, but then they once thought Radium was just a curious mineral that glowed in the dark, right?
Here's a link to "Transformer Oil":
I recently purchased and installed a Pertronix Flamethrower 40511 Black Coil. This is an oil-filled coil. I called Pertronix's tech today and he said the coil can be mounted in any position including upside down. It is not a problem.
Upside down coil "Not a problem" is understandable since oh, All VW engines were this way and lasted many, many, many, many, many, did I say "MANY" miles with seemingly no epidemic of coil failures. I searched the www for any data either way and found none, except one chat room about Chevy's that said not to mount the coil horizontally. Interestingly the reason for that prophecy was that the coil would short to ground through the air bubble on the top side???. If this were really a problem, SOMEONE would have alerted the media years ago. So, sail on brave mechanics and fear not the uncertainty of the coil air bubble theory. Just my 2cents.
craig
Look at most any racecar running a coil and I think you will find the biggest percentage of them have the coil mounted vertical and up and away from engine heat. It is really seen in Formula series, Fords and VWs where the common mounting place is on the roll bar upright where it is mounted vertically and up and away from engine heat.
Coils today are much better than they were in the past yet when talking with some techs like I have done with MSD and Pertronix, except for some epoxy models they too recommend mounting vertical and away from engine heat.
Your car do with it as you will...in my case I'll continue to mount the coil upright and away from engine heat
...if the coil dies the car will not go...LOL
While a lot of you may know this, I thought it prudent to mention that a coil is nothing more than a transformer that converts 6 or 12 volts DC into a 30,000 - 60,000 volt spark (Pulse). While there is a lot of physics behind this, when a coil is energized by closing and opening the points or electronic module, the voltage causes the transformer to generate heat. As you increase engine RPM, it causes the coil temperature to increase, along with the engine generating more heat, too. If you generate too much heat, the transformer windings get too hot and simply melt, causing an "open circuit" and your coil quits (or, as my first engineering boss said, it "Barfs all over the place").
Heat here, heat there..... Heat is the enemy of most engines and peripheral components. Heat causes things to fail. If you accept that fact, then placing a heat-generating transformer directly on the top of a more-heat-generating engine doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? It would make a lot more sense to mount the coil as far from other heat sources as possible......like the driver side inner fender wall?? Yes, this might require a longer set of coil wires, but if the coil never failed........?
Or use "coil packs"...
Re: Chinese mfrs, and using whatever cheap toxic shyt they can find. I do not doubt it. But I have a "Blue Bosch" and this should be made in Germany, right? I should look and see if it says.
We can supply you with a made in Germany sticker if you need one... in deutch of course.
You guys are hilarious . . .
But I was trying to put a legitimate question out there. If it says Bosch, is it really made in Germany, or do they outsource like everyone else, licensing their brand to the lowest bidder in Huan Hung Lo province in outer Mongolia? Just curious.
And I did look to see, and there is lots of stuff on the coil, numbers and such, and the Bosch logo embossed on there, but nothing about country of origin.
"If it says Bosch, is it really made in Germany, or do they outsource like everyone else, licensing their brand to the lowest bidder in Huan Hung Lo province in outer Mongolia?"
Yes. But you don't necessarily know exactly where they've outsourced what and to what extent. At least as far as I could see on supplier visits to Asia. At one place in Panang, ladies were assembling small appliances with labels stating "Made in Mexico". All true - They were using parts from Mexico, but the label intimated that they were assembled there, too. Amazing what you can get away with in a "Free Trade Zone".
I also know that some German-FAG ball bearings are made in Asia while others are not. With open trade agreements these days, It's getting really hard to know the country of origin on most parts.
El Frazoo posted:..If it says Bosch, is it really made in Germany...
Apparently not.
Like other notable German natives in recent history, the blue coil seems to have quietly left the fatherland and taken up residence in South America.
Some noodling on the internets indicates the iconic coil is now being made in Brazil. And here's absolute proof from that unquestionable source - Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-00...n-Coil/dp/B001CO4WA2
(scroll down until you get to the 'origin' box)
Lots of Bosch parts are Chinese knock-offs too. Same boxing and labeling as original.
Be very cautious. I recently got stung on an evilbay fuel pump.
Remember though, when Volkswagen first moved the Beetle production to Brazil, a lot of their suppliers were encouraged to join them there because the tax on imported "finished goods" - cars, appliances, computers, etc) was set at something like 300% (!!!) and Brazil was trying to expand their domestic industrial base by forcing things to be built there. VW and several other car makers went there, providing a customer base for sub-assembly suppliers, like Bosch and Hella and many others, making assembly parts for cars, appliances and lots of other infrastructure things. They seemed to have missed out on the Computer building revolution, even though those were taxed at 300% on import as well at the time, because by that time much electronic manufacturing was moving to (much cheaper labor) Asia. Still, they've got an impressive domestic industrial infrastructure and a good work ethic to go with it.
