Hi Ben

The ballast wire heating up like this indicates that it is passing a high current. The most likely reason is that the coil end of the wire is somehow connected to earth.

This could indicate a catastrophic failure of the coil itself, allowing the low voltage winding to short to the casing (although this is unlikely). A more likely problem is a wrong wire connected to the coil. Which terminal is the wire to the points connected? it should be on the -ve side of the coil. If this is inadvertently connected to the +ve side, it will short the wire to earth every time the points close. The only other wire that should be connected to the +ve side of the coil is the White/Yellow wire that leads back to the starting solenoid and provides +12V to the coil to strengthen the spark during starting.

Check the wiring on your coil:
On the +ve terminal should be the White/Pink wire (or the charred remains thereof) and the White/Yellow wire.
On the -ve terminal should be the White/Slate wire leading to the tachometer and the White/Black wire leading to the points.

By a process of elimination, you should be able to locate the problem.

hope this helps
regards
Paul

Section : Electrical Equipment

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