igniiton parts

[red107]

My buddy is trying to get his 85.5 back on the road. Car has been sitting for a few years. Got the car running after replacing parts in the fuel system, timing belt, plugs,wire, pretty much complete ignition except one part. Condenser, can't seem to find it locally. The car runs rough. I swapped in a spare condenser I had and it runs smooth. Tried autozone, advance, o'reilly's, and napa. Without going to the usual vendors, does anybody know and alternate condenser? Something we can get locally.

[spider2081]

I woould think an 85.5 would have electronic ignition. Where is the condenser located you are talking about??

[red107]

Part of ignition system, right next to coil.

[hayesbd]

This condenser (capacitor) is simply a noise filter to help reduce radio interference. Google will show lots of options or you can leave it off if the radio isn't used.

[red107]

When I was in Navy I learn this in Electronics school. I actually pulled this from one of my old rating manuals. It says an ignition condenser is a capacitor that is designed to hold a small amount of current inside the engine's ignition system. Its main purpose is to act as a ground for the electric charge to prevent the two electrodes from sparking with each other. By absorbing some of the charge, the condenser allows the two contact points time to move away from each other before sparking can occur.
If the condenser is not able to hold a charge,it will cause a significant amount of static in your radio. It basically cleans up your spark. Insuring blue spark instead of yellow.

[blazingspider]

This condenser (capacitor) is simply a noise filter to help reduce radio interference. Google will show lots of options or you can leave it off if the radio isn't used.

+1 on that. This condenser has no impact on an electronic ignition system's capabilities. As much as I hate coincidences I think that's what happened when you swapped that part out and the car ran better than before. I removed that condenser when I upgraded to an electronic ignition system in my car and it runs fine without it.

[spider2081]

the condenser allows the two contact points time to move away from each other before sparking can occur.

Pretty sure if you remove your distributor cap you will not find points inside. Your car should have an electronic ignition system, (pointless). Distributors that have points have the capacitor mounted to the distributor. Some will be inside the distributor and some outside the distributor but mounted to the distributor.
As others stated the capacitor next to the coil is a radio filter capacitor. Usually only AM radio requires a filter capacitor to reduce interference.

[red107]

The car does have electronic ignition. I was explaining how the condenser works in a traditional system(points) and electronic system (magnetic). Most say its not needed for electronic ignition. However, some information contradict that and says its used to clean up the spark in magnetic system. It also suggest that they are used as a control device for the Electronic control module and give the coil longevity. I'm not sold on that. I know they are needed for a points system. Why are they on the fiat Electronic system? Traditionally Capacitors are used as storage components or as a inline filter. I'm off today and helping him out. The car runs with a used condenser I had. It runs rough with his condenser on it. I'll remove it and see what happens. On a side note, 85.5 are really different when it comes to wiring. I notice the colors are different than my 81.