I recently had my '87 Turbo T-Type serviced. My mechanic said the coil could be going bad based on some sticky resin oozing out of the coil (indicated it is a heat insulator that is breaking down).
A) How much truth is there to his diagnosis.
B) If I will be needing a new coil pack, is that something a neo-TR owner can handle... Seemed like my guy was trying to scare me out of attempting this procedure myself so I would bring my car & my checkbook back to him.
Thanks,
David R
Hard to say if the diagnosis is good. I'd check the resistance across pairs of terminals and look for 11-13K ohms across each coil. The ooze could actually be from the top of the ignition module, right below the coil.
Swapping it is very simple. Just need the right Torx bit.
If you do swap it, I'd recommend a GM unit vs. the parts store units. The latter don't seem to last very long.
The melting doesn't seem good as heat is always an enemy for electronics. So it does sound like you may need a new one. Does the car act funny?? Any hesitation, missing or popping? If it all seems fine, I'd maybe get a new one and have it on hand, but wouldn't worry about changing it just yet.
Checking for the resistance can let you know if your coil is going, but it may not. Only true way is to use a coilpack tester. I had a friend with an 85 GN that had a starting problem, it would blow the CCCI fuse whenever you hit the key. I ohmed the coil and it was perfect, 12k across all three. I put my tester on it,(with an 86-87 module), and one tower wouldn't do anything. We replaced the coil and the fuse and it started right up.
I'd say you can change your own coil though, it's really not that hard. And I agree with Scott, get the GM unit.
Cool! Thanks for the insight and thanks for the vote of confidence... and kudos to everyone keeping this web-site top notch.