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I noticed my 1960 Mercedes getting harder to start on cold mornings. Had gradually deteriorated over my 7000 mile trip.
Ignition system uses external ballast resistor: Beru 1.8 ohm. Not switched, so always in the loop. It's in line between ignition wire and coil.
I measured battery voltage with engine off. 13.5 volts.
I measured ignition voltage from switch to ballast resistor. 13.5v
I measured voltage from resistor to coil. 5 v.
Seems like quite a drop.
I bypassed the resistor. Engine fired, started, and ran perfectly.
Then I decided to check the resistor itself. Resistor is marked 1.8 ohm, which meets spec for this car.
But using my volt/ohm meter, resistor shows 5 ohms.
Can a resistor "mutate"?
Thanks.
Tom
Ignition system uses external ballast resistor: Beru 1.8 ohm. Not switched, so always in the loop. It's in line between ignition wire and coil.
I measured battery voltage with engine off. 13.5 volts.
I measured ignition voltage from switch to ballast resistor. 13.5v
I measured voltage from resistor to coil. 5 v.
Seems like quite a drop.
I bypassed the resistor. Engine fired, started, and ran perfectly.
Then I decided to check the resistor itself. Resistor is marked 1.8 ohm, which meets spec for this car.
But using my volt/ohm meter, resistor shows 5 ohms.
Can a resistor "mutate"?
Thanks.
Tom