Oil leaking from the ignition coil?

[mookie]

I've been having some starting and occasional running issues with my Mk2 (ABF running on 16v Kjet). Tonight whilst poking about, I found that there was a pretty decent amount of oil under the rubber boot for the king lead on the dizzy. I noticed it was seeping out from under the rubber cover on the end of the lead, pulled it off, and there was enough oil inside to drip off and make a decent mess. None of the other HT leads were contaminated. I cleaned it out and replaced the lead - the inside of the dizzy is bone dry, as is the cap. I didn't pull the king lead out of the coil as it was dark and didnt want to unseat the coil connectors by accident.

So, do Mk2 coils contain oil (coolant?) and if so, could it be passing through the length of the kind lead to the dizzy?!  I can't see how it could have gotten there otherwise!

[Alec]

Get yourself a new coil matey.

Coils contain oil to regulate temperature and internal resistance I believe. They are not very expensive

[mookie]

Thankfully I've a spare Bosch one! So can oil travel down the inside if a ht lead?

[Alec]

I would assume so, the coils are mounted lying flat near the bulkhead arent they, so in your case maybe the oil has gotten through the the king lead...maybe. Best thing to do is check it at the coil end tomorrow in the light. Chances are its the coil thats giving up the ghost though, got through a few on my mini's

[mookie]

Went to start the car this morning, starter was turning but wouldnt catch. In addition, the rev counter was bouncing round all over the place whilst cranking over. Sound like a duff coil? Ended up getting it running through pure persistance - the new battery started to go flat, but it did eventually fire up with it on jump leads after cranking for absolutely ages.

There was thin film of oil down almost the full length of the king lead too.

[weazgti]

Also the internal seal can fail in the dizzy and you end up getting oil in the cap.

[mookie]

Dizzy seal was done a few months ago. Looking inside, it's totally clean and dry too

[Alec]

Change the coil then if you have a spare one matey