December 17, 200718 yr This is in relation to my previous post in that I need to know if the coil from an 86 gl wagon 1.8L carbed has a built in resistor or if it is on the car somewhere? I don't want to put a resistor on the rig if I don't have to and all the coils i'm finding at the parts shops all require an external resistor. I just want to get it right as soon as possible. Thank you! EZ
December 18, 200718 yr Subaru has not used ballast resistors since the days of points and condensor style distributors, which were last used in 1980 IIRC. The ballast resistors were used to cut down wear on the points and the condensor inside the distributor. Your's is fully electronic, and uses a hall-effect sensor and a transistorized ignitor to fire the coil and thus has no need of a ballast resistor. At any rate you should stick with the stock Hitachi coil (or ND if you have that distributor). The stock units are much more rugged than aftermarket, and are designed to be installed horizontally as well as to properly function with the stock ignitor. GD
December 18, 200718 yr Author Subaru has not used ballast resistors since the days of points and condensor style distributors, which were last used in 1980 IIRC. The ballast resistors were used to cut down wear on the points and the condensor inside the distributor. Your's is fully electronic, and uses a hall-effect sensor and a transistorized ignitor to fire the coil and thus has no need of a ballast resistor. At any rate you should stick with the stock Hitachi coil (or ND if you have that distributor). The stock units are much more rugged than aftermarket, and are designed to be installed horizontally as well as to properly function with the stock ignitor. GD How do you tell the difference between the hitachi and the ND distributor. Thanks! EZ
December 19, 200718 yr It should say on the outside of the unit. If that fails I can tell you that most of the ND ones I've seen had a blue cap on the terminal end. The Hitachi's are all black. Also the brand of coil will match the brand of distributor you have. ND coil's will be found along side ND distributors. Although in 20 years it often happens that people use the wrong units. GD
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