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Old 10-02-2010, 07:01 PM
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PanzerSD PanzerSD is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Saskatchewan Canada
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Question Battery voltage relation to spark quality?

Not a long story short...

I'm experiencing some alternator issues STILL, I know the solution, but I recently realized that my alternator problems could be effecting my ignition systems ability to keep the car running smoothly. The last thing I did to the car was change the distributor cap. It was corroded on the terminals, and carbon tracked inside. While I had the car in the shop, I also had it on a battery charger...After changing the cap and rotor, I took it for a spin, and wow what a difference!, or so I thought. That was on Aug 24th. I doubt that my cap can be fouled up again, but the idle quality has lessened since then, and today, I needed to boost it. I also needed to boost it before I brought it into the shop. (hence the charger)
I drive this car DAILY. There seems to be a pattern emerging. If I charge the battery, the car runs awesomely for about two weeks. as my time spent idling increases as opposed to amount of time at higher RPM's, the idle quality begins to decrease developing a miss. I KNOW that with idle time (remember I have a faulty alternator) the battery is draining, and charging when I am 1000rpm+
Can this slow drain of the battery be enough to effect the efficiency of the ignition system?
Having a decreased voltage to the ignition system would have the same effect as an out of whack Dwell setting on a conventional ignition system right? (coil is not given enough voltage to build voltage in the secondary winding to it's required voltage.)
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