New coil, started/ran great, then died after 5 minutes

So as the heading suggests, I installed a new coil today. I installed an Ice ignition performance coil. Wired up exactly the same as the stock coil, as close to a plug and play as you could get.
I started it up for the first time and it was great, fired up easily and was running noticeably nicer than before.
I was super chuffed, so I left it to idle for a while and warm up before taking it for a drive. Then all of a sudden a couple minutes later it died suddenly.
I started it again, fired right up then died again instantly when I gave it a rev.
Started it again, fired right up and let it idle, kept running for probably 30 seconds.
Started again, and it did the same again.
This happened probably 6 times and then it was dead for good. Will crank no problem, has fuel, but will not start.
Battery is fine, fully charged, it's getting fuel.
Power to coil is seeing 11.6V to 10V. I thought it would be 12 considering it is a 12v coil that I replaced.
I hooked the coil up to 12v straight from battery and that didn't change anything either.
Then I thought I would return it to stock, put in the old coil, sadly that didn't fix anything. It still will not start, not even a cough or splutter.

I'm wondering if I've killed my distributer? My guess is the coil is fine because putting the old one in didn't change anything.
Any ideas?
Help.....

Check the ballast resistor. If it's red hot after your test starts, it's got a crack in it. If you're not running a ballast resistor, it'll roast everything upstream of it. By the sounds of it, it is exhibiting typical symptoms of a bad resistor but touching the resistor will confirm it (be careful - if the resistor has failed it will be hot enough to actually burn your fingertips...)

Ballast was fine, and was fine before I swapped the coils. The new coil is a 12v non Ballast coil, this did get maybe a little warm after it was running for a while, but that's it. Everything upstream of the coil should handle 12v no problem. There's just the distributor, leads and plugs

Check the ICM in the distributor next. The coil sans ballast resistor may have cooked something downstream. The ballast is important and can/will cause issues if it's deleted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geezer101

Check the ICM in the distributor next. The coil sans ballast resistor may have cooked something downstream. The ballast is important and can/will cause issues if it's deleted.

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First thing I'll do when i get home from work. How can I check the control Module? is there a resistance/voltage I can measure with a multi-meter? What points do I need to pick up on with a multi-meter if so?

If I may deviate slightly from the original question (sorry)-
Anyone have a wiring diagram for the 4G54 ignition system?
I wish I knew how the pickup coil (inside the distributor), the ignition coil, and the electronic box inside the cab (behind the RH kick panel) all worked together. Haynes doesn't seem to cover this.

Well it's most definitely my dumb fault I think. Ordered a new ignition module which I'll see if I can fit without removing my distributer.
Turns out you need the Bosch style HEI distributer if you want to run the 12v coil I've got. Hopefully that fixes it otherwise I've got an expensive paper weight.
I had an old distributer in storage, out of a scorpion I think, which I'm cleaning up and hopefully that does the trick. Got a bit of surface rust in the wreckers yard. But I'll not have time to fit that for a while so I need to get my ute running with the existing distributer for now.
New parts should arrive this week and be back on the road this weekend fingers crossed.

Any advice on identifying the HEI Bosch style distributer for a 4g54 to help me with making sure I've got the right one?
Would be awesome if the one I bought by accident a year ago works!

Cheers
Alec.

You can get new Diamond solid state ignition coils from Victoria really cheap (genuine OEM coil with the ballast resistor) I'll see if I can find a link today...

...and found it - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190845085347 Price hasn't changed in 2 years! Freight is a little steep but it's still the cheapest onshore deal I could find for a genuine OEM transformer coil

Oh wow thats cheap!!
Ill keep that in mind if i cant get my new set up working.
Thanks Geezer