HI TO ALL Z FANS... MY 240z RAN PERFECT, I DECIDED TO CLEAN THE ENGINE WITH DEGREASER AND ENGINE BRIDE WITH THE ENGINE ON ALL WAS OK, BUT AFTER WEEK TODAY NOW IT WONT START, I NOTICE THAT THE COIL GET VERY HOT?? ANY IDEAS WHY IT WONT START NOW PLEASE HELP ME...

THANKS,

JUAN.

Hi Juan,

Here's a page I made just for this sort of thing...

http://warbuddies.homestead.com/240Zignition.html

The page is not finished but should get you headed in the right direction.

I'm assuming that you took the distributor cap off and blew it dry as well as the points plate. When you wash you engine water can actually collect in the distributor and get slung about when the engine turns over. This means that even if your cap is dry it can still get shorted when the residual water in the dizzy evaporates or gets slung.

There is a wire on the distibutor which you may have unplugged while washing. It's easy to do. Check for any loose wires.

As far as the coil getting hot... You aren't leaving your ignition switched ON with the car not running right?? Doing so will fry your points and can make the coil hot. (Possibly killing the coil but definitely killing the points) An improperly wired ballast resistor can cause the coil to run at 12 volts making the "normal" coil get hot and die. The system starts the engine with twelve volts and when the key is in the "run" position the voltage to the coil should be around 6V.

You may want to buy a new coil anyway if it's gotten that hot. (Assuming it's really hot) It should cost around $25-$30 if you shop around.

Jim