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Ignition problem... I think...


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Ok so very annoyed :-)

Car has reached the state of rebuild where I am feeling content..

Drove it to goodwood and had a lovely run but part way there the car started missing.. pulled over... swapped the coil (+1 for carrying a spare!) and all was well.. bought a new hv lucas coil from SVC in goodwood.. drove the 200 miles home no probs..

Replaced the spare coil with a new one.. drove around for 50 or so miles.. all good..

Weather nice today.. thought I would drive to work in the TR.. got 100 yds and it conked out (first in 8 years of ownership it has actually stopped dead.. turned over, fuel pump working... hmmm!!

Some lovely lads in a white van helped push it back..

Late to work.. o well!

looked at the car this evening.. still won't fire. Checked the ignition wires.. 12v on both the +ve and -ve of the coil... this doesn't seem correct... turned the car over and re-checked.. still the same...

 

I am running a hall-effect electronic ignition.. have come in for a beer..

What we think? Broken electronic ignition or duff coil..

Got a spare for both so will replace each tomorrow.. but what do you guys think?

(Will give a "virtual" beer to whoever guesses which is correct.)

Hurumph!

Tim

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Hi Tim,

if the contact breaker/Elec Ig module is open circuit (it has to be at some time) then you will get 12V on both sides of the coil.

 

Fit one spare item at a time - this will tell you the fault.

 

If you fit all the spares in one go you will not know what is good or not.

 

Roger.

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yep was going to do one at the time.. coil first.. easiest.. cheers

Tim

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Tim,

 

If you have one put a strobe light on a plug lead, or even each lead in turn, and crank the engine and see if you are getting a spark. If there is no strobe flash then it's ignition, if there is a flash it is something else.

 

Alan

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Good point will do..

Tim

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I’d suspect low tension ignition, in this case the ‘hall effect’ sensor or attached wiring.

 

A set of points, plus condenser, is a good test as pretty infallable.

 

I had similar symptoms on previous car with a shorting out lt lead, took ages to find!

 

Steve

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I’d suspect low tension ignition, in this case the ‘hall effect’ sensor or attached wiring.

 

A set of points, plus condenser, is a good test as pretty infallable.

 

I had similar symptoms on previous car with a shorting out lt lead, took ages to find!

 

Steve

Check the rotor arm first then that new repro- Lucas coil.

Bruce.

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Tim,

An easy check to see if it is distributor cap, rotor, the spark plugs or their leads is to use the strobe on the HT lead from the coil. If it flashes, the coil and points (or electronic alternative) are ok and the fault is downstream.

If you do not have a strobe, pull the centre HT lead out the distr. cap and hold the end of the HT lead to the engine. A good system can easily pull arcs of 8-10 mm.

I have not used this on high-energy coils, others may confirm if this is an acceptable method, safety wise (or not).

Regards,

Waldi

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OK.. so now confused.. turned the car over.. strobe flashed on both the coil lead and the plug leads..

Pulled the choke and she fired right up.. went for a drive.. fantastic..

One thought that has struck me is that I adjusted the choke (I have a double barrelled Holley as part of the supercharger package) before using it yesterday and wonder whether I flooded it.. the choke system on the holley is pretty extreme to cope with big US V8s..

have gone through the wiring no issues I can see and have re-adjusted the choke.

Cheers

Tim

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Tim,

Flooding after 100 yards' driving... surely it would stumble and falter first, telling you it was over-rich?

Maybe its an intermitttent electrical gremlin.....

Peter

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I know.. I know.. sorry chaps.. as ever, vital information was left out..

Peter, yes as a matter of fact it did stumble about 50 meters before, and I thought "perhaps too much choke" but had to do a 90 degree left turn so no hands free to adjust and then it stalled..

Hoping it is this rather than an intermittent gremlin :-(

Tim

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