73 Super blowing out coils?

73 Super Beetle keeps blowing my coils! Bought new ignition resistor, new battery, and still doing it. Please help me out. Thanks.

You shouldn't need a resistor, the coil should operate on 12V. I would reccommend you keep to a Bosch Coil, I've had bad luck with cheap aftermarket coils. There are places that sell them on the internet for reasonable prices (try a Google search) as local automotive stores tend to be very high on them. You can even find one on a old Rabbit or Golf that should work fine

Wont start with resistor... without the resistor, it keeps frying the coils. Last coil cost me $24. =\ Anything that could be causing that?

Okay... update to this. Was looking and asking around about this in the auto shops. Learned that I'm only supposed to have two wires coming from my coil. I have four. I'm guessing this is a bad thing, and it's what is causing my coils to fry.

So... can anybody tell me exactly how many wires I'm supposed to have coming off my coil, and where those wires are supposed to go?

Here's what I've got right now... (work with me here, as I try and explain this...)

positive coil lead: (1) going to this thing that looks like it's supposed to screw into the left side of the carbeurator, but I think it's stripped... it's not screwing. (1) going into the tip right side of the carb, just under the filter lip. (1) coming from the wiring harness (guessing this is the correct one).

Negetive coil lead: (1) going to the distributor.

That's how the wiring is set up off of my coil. Can somebody please tell me what's wrong, and help me to see the light? Like I said in my introduction post... This is my first car that I'm actually getting inside, and working on. My friend had to explain to me how an engine even worked. I'm learning fast, but some things we just don't know. Air-cooled engines are a bit different than what he's worked on.

Thanks.

Are you sure that you've got the correct wires on the correct contacts on the coil? I don't recall a resistor even being in the circuit? In 5 past years working at a Volkswagen Dealership service department ('70-'75), I can only remember someone replacing ONE COIL in all that time? Of course they were all fairly new cars at the time. There is something else going on besides your coil, but off the top of my head I can't imagine what it is yet. You should have the hot (+) lead to the (+) positive side of the coil, with a second wire branching to the carburetor electric fuel shut-off valve and maybe another branch-off to the choke heater element. When you turn the power off, the ignition coil ceases to have power and the fuel shut-off keeps the engine from dieseling. The negative side of the coil connects to the points inside the distributor. If you have more wires than that, you better track them down to see what they connect to.

All those wires sound correct. He should actually have one more going to the reverse lights off the postitive side. Polarity is important but wouldn't cause the coil to go bad (just causes a loss of power). If you still have a German style coil they are marked witha 1 and a 15, the 1 is the negative post & the 15 is the positive. There should be no resistor unless you bought a coil that plainly states on it that it must be used with a resistor & runs on 9 Volts. All other coils run on 12 Volts. Get a good used coil off another air cooled VW or Rabbit they rarely go bad, and stay away from those cheap ones.

Check out this page on checking coils --> http://www.1800vw.bizhosting.com/coilresistance.htm and this page on basic wiring -> http://www.1800vw.bizhosting.com/buggywiring.htm

Thank you much. I got it fixed. =) She starts up on a dime now! Only problem is... now after she warms up, she dies while idling, or coming to a stop. Been playing with the adjustment screws, but they don't seem to be helping much... or I'm just stupid, and not realizing what the heck I'm doing to the screws (which is probably the case).

But anyways... thank you all, for your help. =) Got her running. >=)

Check out the Dist. advance. Make sure it is not sticking. It must advance smoothly and stop the same place every time. See. -> http://www.1800vw.bizhosting.com/wontidle.htm

If you're sure the timing is correct then try the carb adjustments in the following order. 1) Turn the fast idle screw (the one that contacts the choke cam) so that with the choke cam in the open position there should be about 1/16" gap between the screw & cam. 2) Turn the fuel (small screw) and air (large screw) on the side of the carb in until you feel it contact bottom then out 1 1/2 turns. Start car, you may need to help it idle until the engine is at operating temp. 3) Turn the air screw until the desired idle RPM is reached. 4) Test the fuel screw setting by turning it outward & see if RPM's increase. If they do then reset RPM's to proper level with the air screw. If they don't then turn the fuel screw in until you hear the RPM's start to drop, then back it off 1/2 turn.

i have it ,,,,, some one put an electric choke on it and used the coil as power 12V,. it needs to be hooked up to the ignition hot at the starter. Try it if i'm wrong you can call me what you want when ever you see my post.

Also check out the Idel Solenoide on the side of the carb. See #40 on -> http://www.1800vw.bizhosting.com/0.carb.solex.htm It must have 12v running to it and check it by unpluging the wire and touching the terminal with 12v hot wire. It must click every time it makes contact.

Galaxi 99,
That electric choke is standard for the carburetor. Power to the fuel shut-off and the electric choke both come from the positive terminal at the coil. Do not connect your choke heater element to the starter terminal, or your choke will never come-off!