Intermittent Spark

[m.i-man 0]

I have developed an intermittent spark, I was driving a bit hard on the way to the pub on sat night and the car just cut cleanly cut out. No noises, rev issues nothing, just cleanly out. Wont start at all now. The RAC man towed me home after running some checks, and said it was the ignition amp, but I have swapped that and it is still the same! I haven't got a coil, but don't want to buy anything unless it's going to fix it!

 

Anything else I can try before I set fire to it!

Edited June 18, 2007 by m.i-man

[t16ryan 1]

had one wit hthe wire to the dizzy has shorted inside the small loom try wiggling the wire all the way down while checking for spark ?

[m.i-man 0]

Thanks, I gave it a go but to no avail.

 

Bought a new coil today, and touch wood she's running fine a gain!

[m.i-man 0]

No wait, she's just died again..... any advances on coil, ignition amp? Is this likely to be a distibutor fault?

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

Assuming your are running a dizzy convertor, Check the three pin plug that runs to the side of the dizzy body.

 

These seem to attract water which makes them fail occasionally, loosing the spark.

 

Fitting the new amp could've moved the wires in the plug & made the contact again for it to fail later.

 

Graham.

[m.i-man 0]

Where could I get a new one of these cables form then? Is it something that Pug would stock, or should I look in the scrappy?

 

Cheers for the help.

 

edit- I don'tt hink I'm running the convertor.... how would I know if I am? the only cable I have coming out of the dizzy is the hall sendor. (8v dizzy and housing)

Edited June 30, 2007 by m.i-man

[DamirGTI 342]

Hello !

 

I've had similar problems recently and it was the ignition amp. making troubles when it gets hot , try to remove the ignition amp. and apply new coating of thermal paste at the back surface of the ignition amp. and see if this helps .

 

Is this happening when the engine reach operating temp. or it's the same hot or cold ?

 

Also are you sure that it's electrical related ? maybe it's something about fuel like blocked carb jets , blocked float inside the carb , sucking the air bubbles from the fuel fed pipe , blocked fuel filter ..

 

 

cheers

Damir

[m.i-man 0]

It's definately ignition. No doubt, as the test light shows the output from the coil isn't sparking when it should be. It sparks on first turn, then pretty much fails to spark after. Stop cranking it and try again, and it'll spark and then fail.... etc etc.

 

The fuel pump works fine and the filter is clear, so I will say it's definately electrical and not heat related as it happens wether it's stone cold or warm (as it cut out when warm but failed to start since when cold).

 

Thanks.

 

 

I bought the glass fuel filter so that I caould monitor the state of it with ease, and there is no air coming into the system either.

[pug309twin40s 1]

sounds like either the ignition amp or ignition coil is breaking down.

 

I've got 2 spare ignition modules(1 nearly new) and a spare good ignition coil if you want them to try?

[boldy205 75]

pug sell the wires for about 20 quid i think.

[m.i-man 0]

sounds like either the ignition amp or ignition coil is breaking down.

 

I've got 2 spare ignition modules(1 nearly new) and a spare good ignition coil if you want them to try?

 

Cheers Paul, I've bought and fitted a brand new coil so I don't think it's that.... although it did run fine for 10 minutes with that on, and then misteriously cut out again and hasn't started since.

 

I will try my spare ignition amp with this new coil (as i tried it before with the old coil) and I guess maybe both could be at fault?

 

I will try that today and get back to you.

[m.i-man 0]

Got it to start long enough for it to get into my garage.

 

BUt the problem remains. I have as already said changed the coil. I have now tried (an unknown) ignition amp, wiggled all the wires to try and get it to cut out if there were dodgy wires etc.

 

Nothing. But what she does now just before cutting out completely is the rev counter dances from 0-7k rpm a few times then cuts out...

 

any ideas?

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

You can tell if you are running a dizzy adaptor from looking at the head where the dizzy is mounted.

 

The forst picture below is with an adpater;

 

The second one is without;

 

Its the big alloy cylinder you can see under the dizzy in the top picture.

 

If you don't have an adapter fitted you can forget about the lead I mentioned before.

 

Graham.

[m.i-man 0]

Oh right, thank you for the pics Graham, Mine is different to that so I don't have that cable.

 

Mine has the 8v thermostat housing (iirc) that pushes the dizzy out, I had to attach an adapter to the end of the cam so that the dizzy would reach etc...

 

 

Edited July 8, 2007 by m.i-man

[pug309twin40s 1]

Oh right, thank you for the pics Graham, Mine is different to that so I don't have that cable.

 

Mine has the 8v thermostat housing (iirc) that pushes the dizzy out, I had to attach an adapter to the end of the cam so that the dizzy would reach etc...

 

 

you do have the cable graham is on about, you can see it coming of the front of the dizzy(opposite side to the advance unit)

 

rev counter playing up could indicate ignition fault as it takes its feed from the coil.

 

you double checked all the wires under the dash we soldered together? that none are coming loose?

[m.i-man 0]

oh right I see. :$

 

I'll have a look for the wires and see if there's anything strange there.

[m.i-man 0]

coil and ignition amp together gone.