another sudden death SORTED !

[Matt]

I dont suppose for a second the lock nuts in the rockers came loose and the gaps have opened right up?

[hotrodder13]

Im glad you said that becuase a few people told me it sounded a lot more tappety, and when i was findin top dead center and moving the rockers they seemed a bit loose so i will check while cleaning the spark plugs

Cheers tom

[bmcecosse]

If this is the engine that was on ebay - I hope you have fitted some breathers to it! Did you check if the head gasket was torqued down correctly ??

[hotrodder13]

yer took the breather off my marina one, tryed again and nothing, guna try a new coil and a diffrent dizzy and try again 2moro

[hotrodder13]

it was the coil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so happy its working

[bmcecosse]

Hmmmm - but it's NEVER the coil - and you reported the plugs had nice big sparks......... Glad to hear it's going of course - but just to check - how about reconnecting the old coil again and see what happens.

[MColes]

Hmmmm - but it's NEVER the coil

I was actually waiting for that

[bmcecosse]

[chrisryder]

when i rebuilt my engine i treated it to electronic ignition and N9YC plugs, so decided that a nice Lucas Sports Coil would be the perfect companion to get the best spark possible. Fitted it, a week later and i was mis-firing, back firing, underpowered and running hot.

changed back to the standard coil (after a few other dead ends) and she purred like a kitten!

took the Sooperdooper coil back to the shop and they gave me another one (didnt pay my labour tho... ) and that's been on for 2 months and serving be fine.

Lucas, owned by foreigners, made in foreign climbs, but still maintaining the quality...

the old coil is still in the boot just in case this one packs up!

[Chris Edgar]

Don't mention coils!

Back in the mid- eighties, living in London, I bought a 57 Standard Ensign.
Super, very original car with 47K genuine on the clock.
Ran very well... except when in heavy traffic (a lot of that in London) ....it would start to miss & if the traffic flow didn't speed up, it would stop.
I would investigate, check the spark at the plugs was OK, look at fuel etc. but no matter what I did it would not start.
After about an hour or so, when all had cooled down, it starts & off we go.

This proved a serious problem, especially when, in stop/start traffic, it did it in the Dartford Tunnel.

I always assumed that, because there was a spark at the plugs, it had to be a fuel issue &, over time, tried all sorts of "solutions" each getting more outlandish.

Eventually I gave in & took it to a Krypton tuning place, told them to let it idle 'till it got really hot. When I went back in the afternoon they said "it's the coil, when it gets hot the insulation starts to break down"
Coil was replaced there was never a problem again.
Proves that the spark that you see at the removed plug may not be "good enough"

In the course of my previous attempts to solve it I HAD replaced the coil but the new one immediately appeared faulty. I took it back & was offered my money back or an exchange.
Sadly, I took the money back. Had I exchanged the coil I would have saved a lot of heartbreak.

In my experience..always suspect the coil until you know know it's OK

[hotrodder13]

Connected the old coil up and again it wouldnt start so im guess it duff, only 6 months old so happy its workin

[bmcecosse]

I guess so - but you did say it had good sparks! Check you have the correct coil for your ignition system. If you use a low resistance (ballast) coil on 12 volts - then 6 months is about right!

[hotrodder13]

There was a spark but, we found out it was pulsin like it was ment to, no contact and breaker thingy haha

[bmcecosse]

Ehhhh?

[MarkyB]

"was pulsin like it was ment to"

I think "wasn't pulsing like it was meant to" maybe one spark rather than the more useful groups of four?
Or sparks between the 12v feed and the coil but no HT sparks?

[hotrodder13]

It wasnt ** put it wrong But whatever it was changing the coil worked so im happy

[chickenjohn]

Hmmmm - but it's NEVER the coil - and you reported the plugs had nice big sparks......... Glad to hear it's going of course - but just to check - how about reconnecting the old coil again and see what happens.

It very much sometimes IS the coil, had coil failure on two of my cars and helped a local club member with the same. Clue is if the coil gets VERY hot with the ignition on- possibly an internal short???

[hotrodder13]

The guy who was workin on it with me said he guessed it was the coil cause it didnt get hot after tryin to turn over for 30 mins

[bmcecosse]

The original postings assured us it had a good spark! Pulsing is nothing to do with it -one good spark is all the coil produces for one 'opening' of the points....... I always write it's 'never' the coil - because obviously, just sometimes, very occasionally, it IS the coil.... And yes - I carry a spare coil with me....... But 'getting hot ' is not an indication of coil failure - more an indication of the points not opening properly, surely!!! Many seem to jump at 'new coil' as first diagnosis - it should be the very last, after all other possibilities have been checked and dismissed. Coil staying cold - well - yes that could suggest an open circuit - yet we were told there were good sparks ?? Sure it wasn't just bad connections - either on the coil itself or in the leads to/from ??

[hotrodder13]

there was a good blue spark on all 4 plugs thats what confuesed us for 2 weeks there was spark and fueel, and as soon as we changed the coil it worked, let it run for 30 mins then put the old one back on and it didnt, so that one is now in the bin and got a new shiny one, and the coil was the very last thing i checked