[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

1. You're talking about the PICKUP COIL, not the reluctor. The reluctor is the iron/steel toothed wheel, connected to the distributor shaft, that spins inside the pickup coil.

2. Unless the pickup coil was manufactured wrong--or taken apart and then reassembled incorrectly--the electrical polarity should be correct. The magnet inside the pickup coil would have to be upside-down/backwards polarity, I think.

The pickup coil provides an AC electrical signal, kind of a sawtooth pattern, or a "modified" triangle wave. The signal voltage should gradually increase (+) as the reluctor teeth and the pickup coil teeth become aligned; and then rapidly shift to a negative polarity as the two sets of teeth pass each other, Direction of rotation does not change this--as the teeth get closer they generate a positive-going waveform that dramatically shifts to negative-going as the teeth just pass alignment and get farther apart. The ignition module triggers on that sudden, dramatic, negative-going part of the waveform as the voltage passes "0" on it's way from + to -.

The pickup coil wires are color-coded White and Green. The module terminals are probably labeled "W" and "G". Proper electrical polarity is assured when the colors match.

Proper MAGNETIC polarity is determined by the direction the wire is wound around the bobbin--or more-accurately, the direction the bobbin and wires are inserted into the pickup coil assembly. With the bobbin and wires "upside down" on some pickup coils, the wires have to be crossed to assure that the white wire connects to the W terminal of the module.

1. Reluctor is really the assmbly: the pickup coil with mag pole piece. I separate-out the pickup coil and magnet and cup as having VARIATION.

2. oh yea, they vary in winding direction and which magnet pole is up. Correct with the triangle voltage wave. Thing is i observe the module triggering (coil firing a plug) better with the wires flipped. Indicating the reluctor polarity is wrongk. In fact i have 4 reluctors that are wrongk. Thinking occurred that these reluctors came from modern 7-8 pin HEIs which GM switched the voltage polarity (reluctor and 7-8 pinmodules)