Lord Flashart Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 (edited) Hi all, Recieved today the above ignition unit from Simon BBC. It arrived with the incorrect instructions for a positive earth system. Has anyone else fitted one of these and has a pic of the wiring or the instructions? Have to say a little disappointed, the unit is cheap and is visably so. Also without instuctions its quite useless. Tempted to send the thing back to him and stick with points!! Paul Edited April 3, 2012 by Lord Flashart Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Hi Paul, send them an e-mail explaining the problem. I'm sure they could e-mail by return the diagram. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dykins Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Paul I looked at this kit for my TR4, but eventually settled on the very similar Accuspark version. However, on the SimonBBC website, there are instruction on how to fit their electronic system http://www.simonbbc.com/ignition-kit-helper which will hopefully help you. As Roger has suggested, an email to them will I'm sure also help. Regards Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Wait till you fit it you will be happy then Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Cheers guys, Mr BBC emailed instructions to me this morning. Do these units make that much difference neil? Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Yep But you will need to swing the dizzy quite a lot to time it right after that enjoy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 How did you time yours Neil? Since fitting the unit the has never ran so badly. I can't hear any pinking, but the car will happily run on after turning the ignition off! It's over heating now, and has little power. Also the spark plugs(new today) are now white when they were a nice brown/grey colour. The car was running fine before I fitted this thing and I've spent all day adjusting the timing and driving it and it seems to make no difference, whichever way I swing it the engine is running on. If I advance a few degrees I get decent power but it'll deisel really badly. I'm going to refit the points for now before this infernal unit damages my engine. Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 All the unit is is a switching transistor instead of a set of points, so it can't do any harm unless you've got the timing wrong. The pulley on the front of the engine should have a static timing mark at I think seven degrees BTDC, so the easiest thing to do is set the ignition timing at 600 rpm with with a bit more advance, probably 14 degrees and it will be fine. I'm assuming you have a strobe. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 He has something wrong end of Ash ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Sorry I don't understand. Have I misunderstood? Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Dear Sir The new unit you have purchased will not compensate for a worn out dizzy and must be timed correctly with a strobe light to correct spec as per book,it will also be more accurate as the dwell will be far less and the spark will occur when it should, this is of course if it is not faulty or not fitted correctly. I do not sell them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Cheers guys. Ash I don't have a strobe I've always just set my timing statically then used swing method. As a last ditch effort before tossing the thing I advanced the dizzy until the revs peaked, then backed off a little. This seemed to improve things a little and with a little fine tuning I've stopped it running on. I'll follow your advice Ash and I'm off to buy a timing light. Thanks for your help Neil. I know something is wrong, which is why I'm posting on here asking!! Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Good Man Buy the light set it right and your away no need to go back Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I've just checked the workshop manual and I reckon that if you set it to the static timing marks at a slow tickover, it'll be spot on. In my opinion it is absolutely impossible to time an engine by ear. Also if you rotate the distributor for max revs at tickover, the timing will be far too advanced. It's a beautiful engine when it's tuned correctly IMO. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Well chaps, I think my ignition unit must be faulty. Bought a timing light, set the timing as Ash suggested. Car ran like a sack of hammers! And on shut down ran on so badly it made the car jump backward when I released the clutch to stop it. It also backfired after a few seconds. I've refitted the points and set as per the manual and all symptoms disappear, car is running smoothly again and not running on. The ignition unit will be on the first airmail flight back to supplier on Monday morning. Cheers for the help chaps. At least I got a timing light out of the experiment!! Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I had another muck about tonight and I think the unit is definitely faulty. I refitted the unit and set the idle to 800rpm and advance to 12 before TDC. Idle was irratic and difficult to get steady. On shut down the bad run on returned. Refitted the points. Set idle to 800 rpm, set advance to 12 degrees again. Idle rock sold and not even a hint of run on. The unit must be U/S. I've emailed the supplier for return instructions, going to cost me in postage though, so I don't think I want another. Thanks for the help gentlemen. Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cliveinfrance Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 My first Simon BBC unit was faulty, I phoned Simon and he replaced it with one that he pre-checked personally, at no cost. Works perfectly well, very pleased with it...................It is on my Wife's Sunbeam Rapier V. My TR4A has had a Pertronix unit fitted for about five years without problems. So don't give up on the Electronic Ignition, it really is far better and less trouble in the long run. regards Clive Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley James Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Is there a correct distance to be set between the reluctor and the switching unit, because if the gap is set wrong (or worn distributor bearing) the spark will be erratic. It's an extremely simple electronic device of which millions are made, all utterly reliable, so and I intend no offence, but it's unlikely to be faulty unless it's been wired back to front or is somehow set wrongly. Ash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 (edited) I agree Ash, I've used pertronix in other classic and never had a problem. No offense ever taken mate. Suggestions always welcome! It's wired exactly to the instructions and the gap is not critical according to the literature. I recieved an email from the supplier this morning suggesting that the electronic unit usually need 3-4 degrees of adjustment compared with points. In order to achieve the same 800rpm 12 degrees advance, mine needed about 15 degrees adjustment so I'm wondering if this is part of the problem. I also don't really see why the unit would cause run on at the same advance level as the points, but it definately is. I've emails Simon back with a bunch of questions and I'll see if he can shed any light on the situation. Until then I'm leaving the points in. I don't like my engine running backwards after I shut it off!! I'll update when he gets back to me. Paul Edited April 5, 2012 by Lord Flashart Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 When you set it right what is your idle rpm? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I set both points and electronic unit at 800 rpm. Annf both to 12 BTDC. Any ideas? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Plug gap or range for me, should be a wider with it, or coil ? you will have a bigger spark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 So you think the plugs are maybe too hot? They are BP6HS NGKS. I'll try opening the gap tonight. Thanks Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
manray1 Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 (edited) I'll update when he gets back to me.Paul Hi Paul, I tried BP7HS, still the same. I would be very interested about the answer from Simon, as i have the same problem. Thanks in advance to keep us posted. Lionem Edited April 6, 2012 by manray1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Flashart Posted April 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 I didn't get down to the gargae tonight ( wife insisted I spend some time in the house!). I'll be down there tomorrow and I'm going to try a few things. Simon suggested checking the earths on the dizzy and coil. I'm sure they are fine, as it works fine with the points, which also need an earth. I will run earth wires directly to the units from the battery with should eliminate that problem. I'm going to refit here electronic unit, and set the timing again then I'm going to check the carb mixture to make sure this is correct just in case the points are somehow masking something else being incorrect. Very interesting that someone else also has the same problem. I know these possitive earth units are relatively new and I'm starting to wonder of there is a problem with them. I'll update tomorrow morning (pacific time!) Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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