Greetings, I am installing a Lumenition system on an S3 V12, I’ve searched the site but cannot find how to definitevly wire the unit. Does it eliminate the ballast resistor, and how does one wire the tach? Does it need a separate diode or resistor as I have read? Thanks in advance.
Steve, I will have to dig up my notes, its been 14 years (and 40k miles) since I installed Lumention on my '74. I do not recall any special wiring. You still use the same ballast resistor and I believe the only thing I added to it was a wire to power up the amplifier. Will check my notes. Jeff S. Atlanta, GA
Thanks, I don’t see a diagram for how to connect with the ballast, I’ve not dealt with a multi connector ballast before. I would have thought that the electronic ignition eliminates the ballast like on my othe car with a 123 ignition distirbutor.
If someone has a picture of how the ballast is wired to the Lumenition that would be very helpful, thanks. The ballast is connected to the old amplifier system so I am not clear what remains and what gets binned.
Lumenition is made by Autocar in the UK. They have some Faqs on their website, or you can call or write to their support line for help:
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Steve, I will try and take some pictures this evening of how I wired up the V12. JS
Thanks, much appreciated
Here is how my Lumenition, hope this helps. Ive had zero issues with this install.
- Disconnect UW from right side of ballast (going to OPUS amp)
- Disconnect BR from right side of ballast (going to OPUS amp)
- Disconect WB from negative coil (going to OPUS amp)
- Connect purple wire from Lumenition amp to negative coil
- Splice red wire from Lumenition amp to W wire on left side ballast (center connector)
- Connect black wire from Lumention amp to ground
- Disconnect UW (drives the tachometer) on left side of ballast, add resistor and connect to negative side of coil
I have read where the resistor for the tachometer is not always needed, but in my case the tach would not work. I don’t
have a source, but I believe its the same resistor that is needed for any other ignition upgrade that replaces Opus unit.
Awesome, thank you very much, I will report back!
I found a link to what may be the correct resistor that I had to use for the tach.
It appears that your Lucas coil is “ballasted” which to me means internally resisted so it wouldn’t require an external resistor as well? The link doesn’t say how many ohms the tach resistor is, does anyone know that? I have the Lumenition CEC coil and am waiting for word from them if it needs to be ballasted. If so I will use a normal Bosch style and eliminate the half melted existing one. I don’t believe the S3 V12 has a start relay which bypasses the ballast? Thanks.
A couple of things…the coil is actually what is supplied with the Lumenition kit…If you do a search in this forum for “lumention tachometer resistor” , you will see where someone mentioned the resistor was 10K ohm. Have no idea if that is correct. JS
Based on the hand sketch, the resistor has nothing whatsoever to do with the coil. I think it’s just there for the tach. I wouldn’t be surprised if changing the value of the resistor changed the calibration of the tach.
Correct, the resistor is just there for the tach, but everything worked with the first turn of the key (so I did not touch it). JS