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Technical Points burning out....

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Technical Points burning out....

Ffoxy said:
Now then... here is where age is a bonus!

Try swapping the capacitor in the Dizzy! Failing that its usually a high resistance to earth that does that....
Click to expand...


:)

Thanks for that..

I will try a new condencer, however the one I have is new...

I was told alot of my problems were due to a badly fitted radio... Do you buy that?????
 
Kirkers said:
:)

Thanks for that..

I will try a new condencer, however the one I have is new...

I was told alot of my problems were due to a badly fitted radio... Do you buy that?????
Click to expand...

Possible if incorrect suppression caps have been fitted to the coil maybe?

Are the points genuine Fiat or copy part? It's because the points arc when part open / closed, the condensor is there to reduce that to a minimum.

An old Ford I had many years back was a sod for it.

And the Healey I had was quite fussy about having a Lucas condensor fitted.
 
Davren said:
Could also be caused if the coil primary resistance is too low. Haven't fitted an electronic ignition coil by mistake have you? They are lower resistance than conventional ignition coils.
Click to expand...


Its from an old XR2 that was running points, so I have been told....

Someone else did say that so will double check...

Thanks..
 
Thanks for help so far...

Will try a new coil tomorrow...

Had a mechanic around today, we thought problem was sorted.... The problem looked like the rotor arm was out by 90 deg..

We changed this then ran the car for about half an hour... so smoking from the cap... was running great....

Then went for a drive, about 40 to 50 mins then after we stopped for half an hour point swere covered in white s***t again.... I cleaned up with sand paper and she ran fine...

Will look at again tomorrow....

I do have new points and condencer on order but we tested the condencer in the car and it seems fine...

Any ideas, this is a crazy one....
 
If the points need changing then the condenser needs changing too. Just swapping the points over is false economy especially given how little it all costs.

If you are getting crud in the cap and on the points I would check the oil seal on the distributor shaft. Once the cap is on it is basically a sealed environment (it isn't air tight - or water tight but close enough). If contaminants are getting in there and causing problems then it either has to come from the cap, points, condensor or the distributor body itself.

White crud is a bit vague though - a clearer description of it would be useful, consistency, colour, etc.
 
jimbro1000 said:
If the points need changing then the condenser needs changing too. Just swapping the points over is false economy especially given how little it all costs.

If you are getting crud in the cap and on the points I would check the oil seal on the distributor shaft. Once the cap is on it is basically a sealed environment (it isn't air tight - or water tight but close enough). If contaminants are getting in there and causing problems then it either has to come from the cap, points, condensor or the distributor body itself.

White crud is a bit vague though - a clearer description of it would be useful, consistency, colour, etc.
Click to expand...

Here are a couple of pics

http://img268.yfrog.com/i/pointsc.jpg/

http://yfrog.com/j9points2j

Its like a very fine salt coating, it cleans off with light wet and dry paper..

Also, I could see very bright sparking through the wee holes in the dist cap... If that helps..
 
That looks like the result of way too much energy in the spark - effectively the result of accelerated spark erosion. It is just an oxide of the metal in the contacts being ionised by the spark and then coating the contact (sort of like DIY plasma coating).

The coil itself is the likely culprit - especially if it was intended for electronic ignition. Putting the right coil in would solve it, or you can try switching over to electronic ignition (either an aftermarket system like a lumenition optronic pack or retrofitting the system used on the 1300 Uno non-turbo).
 
jimbro1000 said:
That looks like the result of way too much energy in the spark - effectively the result of accelerated spark erosion. It is just an oxide of the metal in the contacts being ionised by the spark and then coating the contact (sort of like DIY plasma coating).

The coil itself is the likely culprit - especially if it was intended for electronic ignition. Putting the right coil in would solve it, or you can try switching over to electronic ignition (either an aftermarket system like a lumenition optronic pack or retrofitting the system used on the 1300 Uno non-turbo).
Click to expand...


I am looking at electronic ignition :)

Problem is I'm away from UK so have to make sure I order the right one, my dizzy is quite a rare one..

Also looking at the Uno option, I do have an Uno turbo engine but have been told I can't use that dizzy...

I have been asured that the coil is from a points car... You are not the first person to mention this...

Should have an update later today...

I will post any findings as I would hate anyone to have to go through this ;-)

Thanks for your help mate!!!
 
I used the Lumenition kit on my last car and it proved rock solid reliable, once set up in the first place I never had any ignition problems again - the downside is the cost.

The distributor transplant is a much cheaper option assuming you can find a 1300 NA Uno somewhere and acquire the entire ignition system from it. The shaft of the distributor is wrong so it takes a little bit of mix-and-match but the end result is proper Fiat/Marelli ignition.

Later Fed-spec X1/9s had a similar system as standard but the rest of the world had to suffer points and condenser...
 
On the subject of electronic ignition, I have purchased and installed an electronic unit via ebay. Costs 29.99 and is one of the points assist types. So, although the points are retained, they provide a simple on/off trigger and the condensor is no longer attached. The claims are that the points gap becomes less relevant (as long as it opens and closes) and points wear is drastically reduced.
I have to say, it was very easy to fit and my engine runs an awful lot better (although, as per my previous posts, I do need to set the timing!).
The seller builds these units himself and the quality seems excellent.

I can't tell you definitively that these are the bees knees as I am nowhere near technical enough, but for under 30 quid, it's worth a try.
 
mmarks said:
On the subject of electronic ignition, I have purchased and installed an electronic unit via ebay. Costs 29.99 and is one of the points assist types. So, although the points are retained, they provide a simple on/off trigger and the condensor is no longer attached. The claims are that the points gap becomes less relevant (as long as it opens and closes) and points wear is drastically reduced.
I have to say, it was very easy to fit and my engine runs an awful lot better (although, as per my previous posts, I do need to set the timing!).
The seller builds these units himself and the quality seems excellent.

I can't tell you definitively that these are the bees knees as I am nowhere near technical enough, but for under 30 quid, it's worth a try.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that...

Could you post a link to item on ebay please, sounds a great option!

Cheers
 
i have electronic ignition on my uno but its gettin worn and spark breaks down at high revs so am going to fit a turbo dizzy which only has a rotor in side ,will then fit turbo trigger wheel on bottom pully along with turbo pick up will then wire in the outside module off my old dizzy (same as one found on fire engine )will be a nice project am i mad ??:D
 
Could this be the problem......?

The first mechanic I went to added a makeshift washer to one of the screws holding on the points to the plate when he fitted new points..... he said it was hitting as the dizzy spun.... (Have tested without washer and it is fine..)

http://yfrog.com/3dscrew2kj

As you can see from these pics the screw is now very close to the points...

http://yfrog.com/3dshowscrew12j

You can also see burning on the back side of the points...

http://yfrog.com/3dshowscrew22j

These are the points that were in the car for about a week...

http://yfrog.com/11oldpoints2j

...more burning on the points where its close to the head of the screw..

Could the spark also be shorting across to the screw hence the exaggerated spark which is burning out the points???

I have seen some very bright sparks inside the dizzy cap (there are 2 wee holes) was told that is not normal...

This could also explain the smoke...!!!!

Only problem now is I have run out of points..... :)
 
If it was arcing to that screw you would see lots of little pits in the head (mini lightning strikes). The points look like they are getting seriously cooked - there is *way* too much current going through them. The voltage looks to be about right otherwise it would have been arcing everywhere and you'd need a huge points gap.

I don't like the look of that screw at all either but it doesn't appear to be the culprit.
 
jimbro1000 said:
If it was arcing to that screw you would see lots of little pits in the head (mini lightning strikes). The points look like they are getting seriously cooked - there is *way* too much current going through them. The voltage looks to be about right otherwise it would have been arcing everywhere and you'd need a huge points gap.

I don't like the look of that screw at all either but it doesn't appear to be the culprit.
Click to expand...


Yep, there were lots of wee pits sometimes on the points...

Am trying to clean up the points and testing car today... I think it was the problem...

Will update soon..
 
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