My 85 2M4 5 speed still has the original pickup coil and ICM. She runs good except for a little hunting on idle. Since the parts are so old should I replace them or leave them alone? Thanks

In my book, new parts never hurt. That said, on my '85 GT, the pickup coil looked really old and nasty, and the vanes on the distro were really rusty. I replaced the whole distro with a rebuilt spare that I had, with a new pickup coil and ICM on it, along with a new cap and rotor, and it ran much, much better.

ICMs don't have an age limit.....they fail when they fail....2 days or 12 years.....Other components in the ignition system contribute to their failure...like ignition coil and spark plug wires, so they should be tested for resistance if they are getting old.

Pick up coils seem to work like they look. If it is getting ratty, change it...but you have to dis-assemble the distributor to do it.

edit: New parts sometimes hurt because many are inferior to what is on your car.

[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 04-02-2014).]

quote Originally posted by Gall757: edit: New parts sometimes hurt because many are inferior to what is on your car.

I suppose I should have said when dealing with old, broken or original parts, quality new parts never hurt.

I have seen a few where the plastic connector on the end of the wires from the pickup coil had become brittle and broken off. My own car was like that - I could plug the loose ends of the wires into the correct places on the module (because the tab was still attached to the wire), but it was a press-fit only. I always worried it would come unplugged while driving.

quote Originally posted by Gall757: ICMs don't have an age limit.....they fail when they fail....2 days or 12 years.....Other components in the ignition system contribute to their failure...like ignition coil and spark plug wires, so they should be tested for resistance if they are getting old. Pick up coils seem to work like they look. If it is getting ratty, change it...but you have to dis-assemble the distributor to do it. edit: New parts sometimes hurt because many are inferior to what is on your car.

A good example of new parts hurting old ones is when you replace a single bulb in a circuit the older ones start going very quickly after that.

as far as the pickup coil goes, mine had almost all the electric insulation worn off the coil wires themselves and caused lots of problems when ever it rained or the humidity was high. once it dried out it was fine. I replaced it and have never had the problem again.

Steve

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