Solenoid on top of coil

[Kim K Kaiser]

The old dry wire broke on my solenoid.  What does it vcontrol, and  Shopping for one, what woukd it be called

[Tony and Ginny 429]

It is a condenser ——to prevent the stock points from burning up prematurely and you need it for the stock point set up for the points to last as long as they should ( I know from personal experience on this ) 

Condenser needs to be grounded or stock point life WB short lived and cause  premature performance problems 

 A problem that is Especially difficult to trouble shoot  when using the car on a limited basis ( as I do ) — so a heads up on this if using stock points 

Not sure it is needed —-in your case as you have the Pertronics ignition and not stock points 

Others might chime in knowing more about using the Pertronics electronic after market ignition in our cars 

Enjoy 

[Tony and Ginny 429]

Jason I would think has some around if you find you need the coil condenser 

A must have —if you might go back to stock points at any time in the future 

Then again they might be available new which might be best but not sure about that at all 

[Mark S Anderson]

buy a new condenser, they are less than 5 dollars apiece.

electrolytic capacitors have a defined lifespan which is shortened by heat and cycling of AC ripple current.   This lifespan was never destined to be 60 years underhood, and there's no test that can confirm the reactance of a capacitor across a range of frequencies unless you have an oscilloscope on the car while it's running, which i am guessing you don't, so it's better to just grab a new one.

That condenser's primary function is to block AC voltage spikes from interfering with the radio; the condenser attached to the points directly is primarily responsible for the spark arresting function that Tony noted.    You will still need it, because while you have eliminated the points, the rapid collapse of the coil fields sends AC voltage into the primary electrical system, and since now your voltage with the pertronix is 12V and the ohms on the coil are higher, the surge when the coil fires is now as high as 50V AC at a frequency based on engine RPM.  If you have a stock (esp AM only) radio, you probably had whine at speed.

[Jason Edge]

I am assuming starter solenoid? If starter solenoid which wire? Small Yellow to R terminal or Blue to S terminal, or larger black wire?

I hate to sound like a broken record but this is why it is extremely difficult to answer your questions and often I will not even attempt to answer and to be honest others probably feel the same way.  In terms of my 4 C's of writing - Clear, Concise, Complete, Correct, this one fails on 3 out of 4 ... I will say it is concise! LOL OK. Here is the info:

Below is info straight from our Help Page under "Cranking ... ". I have underlined the info on the yellow and blue wire. The large gauge black wire is the 12 volt starter motor feed from the battery.

Starting - Cranking
With ignition switch turned to far right cranking position, the purple wire feeds the 12 volts to the blue wire at the neutral safety switch which feeds the starter solenoid switch. The yellow wire from solenoid switch in turn provides a full 12 volts back to the ignition coil for cranking. When you release the switch and have the switch in "run" position, the voltage to the coil is reduced to 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 volts since current is then  provided through the brown resister wire, which gets it's current at the pink ignition wire under the dash.

If the wire or connector is just broken why not splice it at the break, or splice in a new section of wire, or just add a new connector?  Again.. trying to read between the lines! :-)

[Kim K Kaiser]

Tony confirmed for me its tge condenser that sits on coil. , not the starter solenoid.

[Tony and Ginny 429]

 Kim

My prior post is about the coil condenser and not the starter condenser to confirm 

[Kim K Kaiser]

You are correct by giving me the name,  i just assumed it was a solenoid

[Tony and Ginny 429]

Title says on top of the coil but could be a terminology issue in this case 

Enjoy 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Yes, i was referring to thr small one that sits on top of coil in that bracket,  i thoight it was a solenoid, but thats why i originally asked if i were to shop for that part, what would be the correct term ..  you cleared that up w condenser

[Tony and Ginny 429]

If you need that condenser try bringing it to a local auto parts store for replacement 

Enjoy 

[Jason Edge]

OK.. weeding thru the replies... who took my machete?!.... The condensor on the ignition coil bracket is a noise suppressor. See the note on page 12-64 in your shop manual. It has nothing to do with points or preventing points from burning up.  Cars that still have points and have not been converted to electronic igntion, have a condensor inside the distributor cap. With resistor plugs and wires, these ignition coil condensers (capacitors actually) are really not needed, but I like to keep one on my car to keep the original look. I have new ones for $10 plus s/h but you should be able to pick one up at any auto parts store. (AutoZone part # is URS1502)  For now it is going to have zero effect of your engine performance so pick one up the next time you are at an auto parts store. 

[Kim K Kaiser]

Thanks to all for the answers.  Learning  something new everyday on these cars