Not starting

MickEssex

MickEssex

Member
I apologise for the long post but thought it necessary to tell the whole story.

I have a bit of a dilemma.
A few weeks ago I tried to start the car, it wouldn't (I have had no issues previously), I did all the usual checks but had no spark at the points, I couldn't find my multimeter at the time and put it down to faulty Coil or ballast. The original distributor had some slight play and as I was going to upgrade to electronic ignition decided I would take the plunge.

I bought a 'Powerspark' electronic distributor which came with the correct coil and new red ht leads from Simonbbc. I fitted these as per the supplied instructions and bang it started first time. I set the ignition timing to TDC as recommended for lower than 100 octane fuel and the car ticked over smoothly and was very responsive on the throttle, woohoo I thought, problem solved!

NO!

I turned off the ignition then tried starting again, not firing. I checked all the connections and all was well, all I could think of was to alter the timing slightly, I retarded slightly and tried again, he fired up, I turned it off and tried again a few times and it started every time.

A little later I went to move the car to do another job on him... not firing again. I assumed as altering the timing before solved it that it was the same again. I retarded further, he started. I then reset the timing with the timing light at 6 BTDC (the setting for 100 octane fuel), this seemed to be the one, it ran well was responsive and started every time. I let him stand a few hours to cool down and tried again it started on the button.

A week later (yesterday), I had to take him for MOT, I jumped in turned the key... not firing, BUGGER! Again I fiddled with the timing, and after about 10 attempts he started, I drove the 2.5 miles to the testing station without issue, the tester started the car and drove it into the garage, but it appeared not to be running on all eight cylinders but it would tick over. After leaving it ticking over for a minute or two it stalled and wouldn't start again. Again after fiddling with the dizzy and using their booster pack as the battery was now low, it started after about 15 minutes, this time firing on all eight. He completed the test (which was a pass) he then wished me good luck for the 2.5 mile journey back home. :rolleyes:

20170514_130548b.jpg

Yes you guessed it... I didn't make it, it started running on about 4/5 cylinders and then died, leaving me facing uphill on a very busy High Road just before a very busy bus stop. Luckily I had a few passers by to assist me in pushing it into the bus stop layby before I caused to much chaos.

I ended up draining the battery so left the car to get the modern. I charged the battery using the modern and jump leads, (the fitting instructions said not to jump-start the car with the other car running because it would damage the module). I then after messing with the timing got the car to start, I got it home, but now after a full battery charge, I just cannot get it to fire.

I checked the resistance of the coil Primary was 0.9 ohms secondary was 1.6 ohms, the feed to the coil is 12.5V.
I put a sparkplug tester on one of the sparkplugs, no spark while cranking. The battery was replaced about 3 months ago and shows 12.5 volts across the terminals.
The Ballast was bypassed with a new wire from pin 19 on the fusebox to the + on the coil.

I checked the fuel flow by disconnecting the fuel pipe from the top of the filter and placed a rubber tube from filter to a jar, fuel flow seems sufficient whilst cranking.

At this point I don't know whether I still have the original problem or whether I have a new problem with the electronic module.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am at the end of my tether with it and can't think of anything else I can check. :(

Cheers
Mick
 
Pretty much the same as mine reads. However mine starts. I have air/ carb problems though.

Neil
 
I'm just waiting for a second hand points distributor to arrive along with a new coil and ballast, I'll fit them, if the car starts and runs, I know then that it is the module that's at fault and I'll send it back for replacement. If the car doesn't start then I can rule out the ignition side of things and look elsewhere, although with no spark present at the plugs I can't see where else it could be.

I'll update in a few days.
 
Hi Mick,

Going back to a known working distributor so as to eliminate possibilities would be good step. The ignition switch itself can also cause problems, resulting in non starting. From memory, the engine will turn on the starter, but the moment it catches, it cuts out. Does it behave this way with the selector in both Park and Neutral?

Ron.
 
It is a manual, I also bypassed the ignition switch with a direct feed from battery to coil with the same result.
 
This may sound absolutely stupid but check the clamp holding the distributor into the block, to make sure it is not allowing the distributor to rotate.

Many years ago I had a clamp break (metal fatigue) and it took the RACV (our AA) about half an hour to diagnose., and even longer for me to nurse the car back home.(only a broken/worn engine earthing strap years before that took longer to diagnose)
 
MickEssex said:
I'm just waiting for a second hand points distributor to arrive along with a new coil and ballast, I'll fit them, if the car starts and runs, I know then that it is the module that's at fault and I'll send it back for replacement. If the car doesn't start then I can rule out the ignition side of things and look elsewhere, although with no spark present at the plugs I can't see where else it could be.

I'll update in a few days.
Click to expand...
Hi have you a spare rotor arm and is the carbon brush ok in distributor cap?
 
Thanks for all your replies, I have acquired a second hand points dizzy a new coil and ballast, unfortunately when starting for the first time, the starter decided to give up the ghost so I still don't know if it is sorted. :(
 
Okay, I posted up before about the V8 not starting, originally I put it down to a worn dizzy/failed coil. I replaced the ignition with a new Powerspark electronic dizzy, run a new wire from pin 19 on the fusebox to the +ve on the coil to bypass the ballast. The dizzy came with a new high power coil matched to the electronic module. The car started occasionally, sometimes running smoothly and ticking over well, others it would take an age to start and seem like it wasn't firing on all cylinders, other times it would run fine and then fire on just a few cylinders and then die. (I killed the starter motor to probably from over use), I fitted a reconditioned unit which turned the engine over 3 times faster than the old unit ever did. I have swapped out the dizzy again with a second hand replacement, points were no good and I didn't have points that fitted either, I did however have a new Accuspark electronic kit which I fitted along with another new coil.

I still have the same issues as before, but if anything things have got worse. The car will start eventually but only on full choke with the throttle wide open, it takes a while for the revs to pick up though. The car smokes like a goodun too, it never smoked before.

I since changed back to the Power spark setup and things haven't changed. I have checked the leads are in the right order, I have checked each lead individually for resistance and they seem okay(they are new), The voltage has been checked from and to the coil, all fine. There is new fuel in the tank. I even set up a temporary gravity fed fuel tank to bypass the pump and filter, but it run the same as before. I took the tops of the the carbs and gave them a good clean, the pistons move up and down freely.

This has been going on now over about 6 weeks and I'm at the end of my tether.

Anyone in South Essex who can take a look for me? My other option is to cut my losses and sell as is and go back to a Morris.
 
I also did a compression test, results as follows.
8=150 7= 170
6=157 5=170
4=170 3=160
2=155 1=150

I'm not sure what typical compression would be but I would assume around 180 for a good engine.
 
i had problems with my Powerspark fitted to my P5B and eventually replaced it by a Range Rover distributor and now everything is oke again. As the fault occurred intermittent i had a lot of trouble finding it. There is a chap who explains how the RV8 distributors work and also shows how to test the component and fault finding. This was a great help .Archive of Rover SD1 Technical Articles
Peter
 
How warm is the coil when the car dies? Dying after while sounds like electrical items heating up and then failing. I've had a coil fail recently that would do the same thing. But I would also suspect the electronic dissy. Edit: normally electronic systems prefer 12v supply instead of a ballasted supply.
 
I have checked the fuel flow by disconnecting the fuel pipe from the carb and running into a bottle and it seems to flow very well.
 
Mick as you may be aware I have had terrible running problems. I eventually traced it to my carbs. They had massive air leaks. I swapped for another pair which cured my problem. Where I Essex are you.
 
Today I have put the points distributor back in, just waiting delivery now of new points and condenser sometime this week, once they are fitted I should now if it still doesn't start that it is carbs, if it starts, then it is most likely the electronic modules on the two new kits that I had.
I am in South Benfleet SS7 Neil.
 
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