123 distributer wiring from the fuse

[Pianoman]

Im having problems with my distributer. It was working fine from the coil but now won't start the engine unless I send power directly from the battery. If I were to wire it directly to the fuse board do I connect the black and red wires to the same source?

[mgcjag]

Definatly not....black is earth and red is live...fuse 7 i think is good for the live ( check your diagram)..then black to a good earth..Steve

[Pianoman]

Thanks, but what is the blue wire? I was sure that was earth. The black wire has been on the negative side of the coil showing 12v on the meter, the red on the positive also showing 12v. This why im totally confused . I read it on here that it was better to run the 123 on a fuse not the coil

[mgcjag]

Would have been better if you had mentioned which 123 you have.....dont you have a diagram for if....just google 123 ....but here is one option

[Pianoman]

sorry I thought they were all wired the same, it's the bluetooth one and is currently wired as that diagram, but as I said I had read on the forum here, that people recommended ignoring the 123 diagram and connect it directly to the fuse board, which kinda leads me back to my original question

[mgcjag]

On the diagram the live for the 123 red is taken from the coil pos side.......however you could take the live directly from the fuse board.....Steve

[Pianoman]

Thanks Steve, so could I connect the black wire to the negative of the battery?

[johnetype]

It will make no difference as to how the 123 and the ignition works if you wire the 123 red wire to the coil + terminal (white wire) or back to an appropriate fuse fed by the ignition switch.

However, it will make a big difference to if your tachometer works or not. For that to have the best chance of continuing to work normally you need to connect the 123 red wire back to an ignition fed fuse (6 or 7) NOT the coil.

In either case you need to ensure the earth wire (blue?) has a good connection to the chassis/battery -ve.

From the drawing above, the black wire goes to the -ve terminal on the coil which will already have a white/black wire connected to it or it can go to the wire originally connected to your distributor which will also be white/black.

[mgcjag]

Hi Pianoman...whats your name...please try to put it in the signature area with you car model......no you cannot just connect the black to earth (neg) it is the pulsed low tension lead from the distributor that pulses the coil to produce the HT to the spark plugs.....Steve

[Pianoman]

Thanks a million for your help John and Steve, I'm having great "fun" trying to bring this car back to life. It sat in the Arizona desert, unmoved for 40 years so apart from the odd scorpion, im coming across all sorts of challenges I had not initially envisaged. So to introduce myself to you, Im Donal.