BAD EARTH ?

P

peter2000

New Member
HI GUYS ,

IVE NOTICED WHEN I TURN MY P6 HEADLIGHTS ON THE LEFT SIDE IS VERY DULL , I TRIED SWAPPING BULBS BUT THEY ARE STILL THE SAME . I STILL CANT GET IT TOP FIRE UP DO YOU THINK IT COULD BE A BAD EARTH ?

THE OTHER THING IVE NOTICED IS WHEN TRYING TO GAP MY POINTS I TRIED TURNING THE FAN TO OPEN THE CONTACTS BUT THEY NEVER MOVED YET WHEN I TURN IT OVER THEY OPEN AND CLOSE FINE IS THIS OK? OR DO I HAVE PROBLEMS
ANY INFO WOULD BE GREAT

CHEERS
PETER :angry:
 
Could be a bad connection but you should check carefully that the wiring is not in a muddle.

The outer dip/main units have 3 connections a common earth and two seperate lives for the dip and main. If the earth has been connected to one of the lives than on dip or main you would be trying to power both elements in series. Do you have a manual with a wiring diagram??

Bennet
 
I DONT YET HAVE A MANUAL BUT THE LIGHTS WERE FINE LAST WEEK, ITS ONLY A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO IT STARTED HAPPENING
 
Hi Peter
It sounds as though your fan belt may be a bit slack - you may be turning the fan but unless the belt grips and turns the bottom pulley (crankshaft) then the points wont open & close.
Check the belt tension and to make life easier take the spark plugs out so you are not turning the engine against compression. I suggest that you put the plugs back on the leads and lay them on the cylinder head - spin the engine on the starter and you can check all are sparking.
 
CHEERS MATE,
ILL TRY THAT LATER AS IM SURE I DID NOTICE A LOOSE FAN BELT. IT PROBALLY WOULD MAKE SENSE AS THE ENGINES HAD NEW BELTS PUT ON AFTER THE REBUILD SO IVE MAYBE SLACKENED IT OFF TURNING IT OVER :)
 
I found even with the belt tensioned correctly it would slip at some positions when turning by hand. I just press down on the middle of the belt to get the extra grip needed. It's so much easier with a starting handle. Shame Rover done away with them post 3-litre. :(
 
Peter
have you not got the car running yet, if fact have you not got a spark at the plugs?
The lights bad earth would not have anything to do with this !
once you get a spark, make sure the engine turns over fairly fast - Ideally get a fully charged battery over even better if you can connect (as in a jump start) another car's battery with the second cars engine runnig - this should give plenty battery power to get the engine turining over fast enough to start -

Keep up posted, and since you are getting so much information what and not get side tracked
1. get a spark at the plugs
2. get fuel in the carbs.
3. if it still dont start ask what to do next, but until then I'd respectfully suggest you ignore any other "potential problems"

ITs a logical path to follow to get a simple engine runnig - but easy to loose the place ....

good luck!
 
I am not sure which year or model you have but you might like to check the following especially after a rebuild.
If you have a ballasted coil (works at 6V) - will have two leads to the +ve terminal.
There should be one wire which runs from the starter motor solenoid to the coil - this allows the full battery voltage to the coil when the starter motor is turning - (under load about 9V will actually get through.)
Under normal running the power to the coil comes via a resistance which drops the battery voltage by half to approx 6V. (This resistor is in the lead which goes to the dashboard wiring.)
If a non ballast 12V coil has been fitted it will struggle to work and if the lead from the solenoid is faulty then the reduced voltage whilst turning the engine will be reduced even further by the ballast resistor.
One other thing to check on the 4 cylinder car - look at the position of the rotor arm - and the plug leads - It is possible to fit the alternator drive 180 degrees out - if you then fit the leads as per the manual you will be sparking with the pistons at the bottom of their strokes - absolutely no chance of it running then.
 
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