Technical Now what!

[ianhunterv8]

Having cured my mystery idle problem, I was feeling really plesed with myself as I got the car out of the garage, ready to go to a Classic car Show about 12 miles away, which we had been looking forward to.

You know when the car is running so sweetly, everything is tuned and adjusted to perfection, the exhaust note has a very satisfactory crispness to its sound. Everything in our world was perfect.

The sun was shining, the sunroof was open, my wife was in the back and our daughter beside me, the car was positively purring along and idling sweetly at any stop.

We arrived at the Show and tool our place amongst the display, pleased to discover that we had the only Fiat!

When it was time to go home, we all jumped in, but would it start? No. The engine spun over eagerly, but not a hint of trying to run.

What has stopped working so beautifully whilst being parked for a couple of hours? The car has new plugs, points, dizzy cap, rotor, condenser, plug leads. There is fuel pumping from the pump and some in the float chamber, but it won't run. Plug is bone dry and a helpful enthusiast ensures me there is a spark when he holds the lead against the block (now not so sure!).

Eventually, the only thing to do is to call for help. Recovery will be with me within the hour. A reassuring text arrives to confirm the fact. Soon, I am the only car in the field.

At an hour and a half, I phone up to find put what is happening and am told they are so busy it will be another 40 minutes. Why send the first text then? What happened to the "sorry we are going to be a bit late" text?

Eventually a nice man turns up and recovers us home. He reckons its the coil.

Just like that? Out of the blue? Why?

This car will soon have so many new parts on it, it will qualify for a 2013 registration number!

I feel better now. Thank you.

Ian

 

[berkeleyman]

Had a similar problem with mine, had been running rough so fitted new distributor cap, points, plugs, rotor arm and condenser, was running fine and did a trial run of about 5 mile, all OK. I put it away in the garage but when I went to start it again several days later it wouldnt start, the condenser was u/s. I refitted the old one and the car has run perfectly now for around 60 miles. The shop replaced the faulty condenser which I am keeping as a spare.

 

[disgusted]

Coils rarely go. He could be right. I don't trust condensers though, I carry a pocketful at all times...

 

[jjacob]

Ian, I think you may still have carburetor issues. You mentioned that the idle screw still does not do anything. This is not right.

If you had a good strong spark at the plug, then you do not have a coil problem. However, you may still have a dwell or timing issue.

I sense you want to enjoy the car with your family so I would suggest that you do the following immediately.

1. Eliminate the points and condenser. Install a Pertronix or other hall effect kit. These are around $100 USD. All issues related to dwell will disappear.

2. Replace the carburetor with a new unit. For the price of what the tow home from the show cost you, you could have replaced the carburetor.

You have tried your best to resolve these issues yourself, but it is time to just replace the points, condenser and carburetor. You will feel so much better!

John

 

[ianhunterv8]

So today I decided to check the wire between the coil and the distributor, perfect.

I then checked to see if the points lost continuity when they opened, which they did.

The coil/condenser nut wasn't perfectly tight on the distributor, so I re-did the connections.

I checked the gap, perfect.

I then checked the timing, seemed wrong. Not that wrong, but wrong.

Got it perfect.

Checked it again and the spark went up my arm!

The car started instantly and ran beautifully again. I ran it into town and back again - no problem. Idle - perfect.

What had I fixed? No idea!!

A loose connection? Timing not spot on?

No idea!

I am more worried now than I was before!!

Ian

 

[jjacob]

Ian,

Getting the proper dwell (point gap) on a 2 cylinder engine is difficult. You may think you have the gap set correctly, but small gap differences make big dwell differences on a 2 cylinder distributor. I would suggest that you do both of the suggestions I made, otherwise you may be setting yourself up for another tow. For about $300 USD you could have a trouble free ignition and carburetor.
Also check your spark plug wires at night with the engine running to see if you have a "light show" going on. This would indicate bad plug wires that are arcing.

John