R2 the battle bus

Just the front bit to do in oak. Not going to put bulkhead curtains back as always bang my head on that one so it’s going to follow roof more
 
Ooh a bit of a while since sticking something in here…Hadn’t really gone anywhere last year and parked up since August so last month the usual bother of getting him going. Normally it’s wipe the dizzy cap, check points, and wiggle some things and it’s all good (oh and unstick clutch). Unfortunately this time no joy. My friendly mechanic neighbour popped over to help and I cleaned the snot and varnish out the fuel pump. Rechecked points etc and put a can of fresh fuel in. Hey presto it runs. Letting it run up to temp to unstick clutch it dies. Thinking it could be a sparking issue as he said the spark looked a bit weak and yellow I decided I would actually try and fit the electronic dizzy I got about 3 years ago. I also decided to get a new coil. Spent a week googling how to do it and you lot have told me in another post. I couldn’t find TDC marks etc so decided to turn engine till rotor lined up with notch on dizzy case. Unbolted too much off the engine and had to order some gasket paper. Gave me time to unbolt the dizzy and clean the holder (or whatever it’s called). Put it all back together unbolted so wouldn’t forget what I was doing while waiting for parts. I was now a bit concerned as didn’t realise how easy the dizzy bits rotate before bolting everything together and maybe I should have marked rotor position more accurately. Dizzy, coil and new ht leads all fitted. Crossing fingers he started first time and purrs like a kitten. Good thing too as neighbour has gone away for a month. Just goes to show that Darwin isn’t always right lol. Just got to unstick clutch and get him ready for village fete next month.
 
Hi guys. Well I’m at a loss. He konked out yesterday while idling on drive. Wouldn’t start again. Today tried and I’ve now got no spark. This is what happened before I replaced dizzy and coil. Am I missing something. I’m not sure how to check the coil or electronic dizzy but can’t see why they suddenly won’t work when it all worked fine until engine warmed up and now nothing???
 
Which ignition did you get? I've found the Accuspark and Powerspark systems can be a bit hit and miss. I had one on Harvey and it lasted over ten years, the one on Ted was replaced after a couple of months and the 'Stealth' dizzy packed up after about 18 months but a new module sorted it. All I can suggest is to check all the connections then try the end of the king lead against the block while you turn it over, you should have a spark if the coil is OK.
 
Thanks for the reply. Power spark I think. It’s been sat in a drawer for 3 years. It’s been fitted for under a month. Coil bought and fitted with dizzy. All connections good. I assume king lead is the ht lead on coil? It could be a coincidence but this is exactly what happened with points dizzy and old coil (with a weak spark)
 
I had a quick google and have taken some resistance measurements. About 0.2 ohm on primary and 7.7k on secondary. Which is similar to the old coil I took off. I can’t find the specs for either coil and so not sure how important the readings are as long as they aren’t 0 or infinite.
 
That's too high if should be 3.5 ohms

This is from the Mini Forum but the ignition system is basically the same

www.theminiforum.co.uk

Testing Coils - Electrical

Testing Coils - posted in Electrical: Here is how to carry out a few basic tests on your Ignition Coil One of the first things to check around any coil is that it must be kept clean from any dirt/oil/moisture to prevent the HT Spark from tracking to earth as it will always look for the...
www.theminiforum.co.uk www.theminiforum.co.uk
 
Brilliant. Thank you. If mine is only 0.2 ohms I wonder if something is ruining the primary coil then? Could the alternator be the problem? I suppose short of constantly monitoring a meter I wouldn’t know if the voltage is spiking. Could i fit an inline voltage regulator? Sorry a lot of questions but if 2 coils have failed then something bad must be going on. It’s happening after he’s been idling for about 5-10mins
 
Accuspark are well known for toasting certain coils especially 'sports' coils. I've used the old original coils with the systems and they have been fine, it's the modules that fail.
I'm going to get a dizzy from the Distributer Doctor for Ted and I'll probably stick to points. The units he sells are well known for reliability, I'll most likely get a some spare points and a condenser from him too.
 
I shall get another coil and I gather bad spark plugs can ruin a coil and that’s one part that has been in both times. Old dizzy +old coil=no spark. New dizzy +new coil=no spark. If new plugs don’t save the coil then I’ll get another coil and put original points dizzy back in. By then speedy spares will hope give me a bulk order discount lol
 
If you're using electronic ignition then use NGK BPR6ES but use BP6ES for point ignition. The 'R' showing they are a resistive plug.
 
Panky who’s the distributor doctor ?, I’m going to be weighing the electronic ignition pros and cons up soon
 
I had a Lucas 45D4 distributor built and calibrated by Distributor Doctor for the Rapier a couple of years ago. Excellent work, but the cost was just short of £370!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top