sunbeamtiger.co.uk

Having recently suffered from coil failure (Mallory) less than 2000miles, Real Steel would not replace it as it was more than a year old! These are made in China, and I have heard of many more people experiencing this problem with these coils.
I have now heard that if you position the coil "upside down" then the oil is always at the top so to speak. Any comments please.

Rob

Hi Rob,
These coils are absolute rubbish,poor quality windings inside and not filled with enough oil.
They do say to mount upright,but that does not solve the problem.
If you mount upside down you will only expose the windings in the bottom of the coil,and probably speed up the inevitable leak from the coil ignition wire socket.
This problem of these coils can not be just a UK problem,I would be interested to hear from some U.S users of their experiences with this sub standard product,
All the previous American made units were good,why should we pay good money for an inferior product,when for not much more a reliable U.S made item would do.

Interesting discussion. I have recently changed to a Mallory Blaster coil that has vibration free properties. Apparently I understand now that it's silicone based as opposed to using traditional oil filled reservoir. So far no probs but I always carry a spare in the car! Had a version using oil fail on me on the way back from Spa Francorchamps - luckily I had a spare in the boot

Tony,
yes using an MSD does give you another coil choice,but when running a Mallory distributor with either an optical pick up or magnetic ,one has to use their specified coil due to the impedence rating.
You can not run an MSD Coil with the Mallory distributor,unlesss you are using the MSD CD unit as well.
It would be really good if Mallory addressed the problem of their faulty and poor quality coils direct,and moved production back to the USA.
David

I bought a MSD blaster 2 coil for my MSD dizzy. Mounted it vertical as instructed, fired the engine up and it ran fine. Next day wouldn't start, no spark. I put the old coil back on and it has run fine ever since.

redbaron wrote:Tony,
yes using an MSD does give you another coil choice,but when running a Mallory distributor with either an optical pick up or magnetic ,one has to use their specified coil due to the impedence rating.
You can not run an MSD Coil with the Mallory distributor,unlesss you are using the MSD CD unit as well.
It would be really good if Mallory addressed the problem of their faulty and poor quality coils direct,and moved production back to the USA.
David

I have been told that Aldon Automotive (UK) may have the solution, anybody dealt with them?
Rob

Are the inferior Mallory coils identifiable from the better quality items? I'd like to know if I'm living on borrowed time with mine!

I think the upshot is from this make sure you have a spare with you, I recall a few other Tiger owners who have remained stranded with failed coils. Is it perhaps the heat in the engine bay? I know one owner who has fitted his under the dashboard away from the engine bay, is there are any issues using such a long HT lead?

All I know, I had a failure of a coil whilst I'm the fast lane of a motorway doing speeds approaching the national speed limit so not funny when you have loss of power so immediately and you have to coast to the hard shoulder/recovery lane

Tim wrote:Are the inferior Mallory coils identifiable from the better quality items? I'd like to know if I'm living on borrowed time with mine!

No, in a word. I am phoning Aldon in the morning to see if there is a substitute. I mounted 1 where the oil filter was, at the rear of the fan, upright but it still failed. The moral is here, ALWAYS CARRY A SPARE, or 2 with Mallory!!

Is that the Flame Thrower coil you're looking at Rob?

Tim wrote:Is that the Flame Thrower coil you're looking at Rob?

Tim, the Mallory coil is part no 29216 its called a Universal 12 volt High out-put coil. They are normally on Ebay

Rob,
the Mallory coil part number 29216,is a coil for Electronic distributors,either the Unilite or the Magnetic.
The coil 29217 is the coil for Universal use,i.e good for use with contact breakers.this coil has a black top,and not a light brown top.
The way to tell the better Mallory Electronic coils is by the sticker on the bottom,Made in USA.
Most are now not made there and are poor quality,but they are not alone in out sourcing production to the Far East.

Just had a coil suitable from Aldon who are specialists on ignition systems. They have supplied a coil (chrome) for £44.

Rob,
are you sure that the coil you have,which I presume is a Flame Thrower Chrome unit has the right impedence,the Mallory part no. 29126 which is recomended for the Magnetic Distributor, has an impedence of 0.70 ohms and the Flame Thrower is higher at 1.5 ohms,you should be careful of the module in the Mallory distributor.
The standard Mallory Chrome coil has an impedence of 1.4 ohms and is only suitable for contact breaker systems,although it will work with a Mallory Unilite or Magnetic,but the risk is a blown module.

i threw mine in the bin as it went faulty very quickly .changed to a blaster 2 ran fine .sent it back to real steel who sent it back and said there was nothing wrong with it .