How to Troubleshoot an HEI Condenser

The capacitor on an HEI is known as the condenser. A condenser on a vehicle with an engine that is not starting properly can be tested by using a multimeter. When your vehicle does not start or seems to routinely start hard, you may have a bad condenser unit. To know for certain, you will need to check the voltage for the points of the condenser.

Things You'll Need

• Multimeter

Instructions

1. Pull the hood release to unlock the hood. Raise the hood for your vehicle and set the support bar.

2. Locate the condenser for the HEI that is inside the engine compartment. Open the cover and expose the points for the condenser.

3. Turn the dial on your multimeter and set it to “Ohms.” Touch the probes of the multimeter to the points of the condenser and read the display. The display should have a number for megaohms that will slowly decrease to zero and then start to rise.

4. Reverse the location of the multimeter probes and view the megaohns on the display. If the reading that is on the display remains low, then the condenser is bad.

Tips & Warnings

• HEI stands for High Energy Ignition and was developed by General Motors.

References

• Classictruckshop: Ignition System Problems
• Jetv8r: Electronic Ignition