no spark

[Danny shaw]

Hi all new on here and new to minor's in general ! I've just this week became the lastest owner of a 1953 803cc minor. The car has had regular usage until its lay up a couple of years ago and was last stared approx 1 year ago. My problem is no spark at all, The car turns over freely and is pumping fuel up easily but just wont fire. Its a +earth car and there is power going to the coil and 12v coming down the king lead, but still no spark ! Could the coil be duff ? . Sorry if this daft sounding but i'm really poor when it comes to auto electrics .
I have on order for the car new cap /leads and rotor arm etc but have resisted a new coil until i'm certain its dead. Any help greatly appreciated. Dan

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the forum! The others will already know what's coming next - It's 'never' the coil...... And 12 volts on the king lead??? Are you sure? Check the connections and clean/gap the points.......

[Danny shaw]

Hi, well when I say 12v coming down the king lead I'm mean theres power registering on a test gauge . What should it be registering at ?and shouldn't there be a spark when its put to earth ? The points are cleaned and gapped by the way. I shall delay ordering a coil then and try it as soon as my cap/leads/arm etc show up .

[bmcecosse]

It should be several thousand volts.......enough to make you yelp!

[Danny shaw]

Several thousand eh , I probably should have mentioned I wasn't cranking it at the time , this was just with the ignition on .

[mike.perry]

Check the carbon bush inside the top of the cap, it should be sprung.
Are you getting a spark at the points?

[beero]

Have you checked for a spark at one of the plugs yet? Remove a plug and connect the HT lead and hold it on the engine to earth it and get someone to turn the engine over with ignition on. Wear some rubber gloves or you may get a belt.

Or a set of these can be handy
http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/696393/reviews.htm

[Danny shaw]

Yes guys i've checked both those items the carbon bush is good and i've also checked for a spark at the plugs with no joy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when I replace cap & leads etc etc that it'll fire. On close examination their condition is dire to say the least !So for now its just a process of elimination.

[bmcecosse]

Probably the rotor arm - try that first - and if it works by all means then go on and fit new cap and leads. But it would be nice to just change one thing at a time to track down the root cause of the problem.

[beero]

Pull the centre HT lead from the dizzy and rest it close enough to the engine for it to spark. Now with the ignition on close and open the points with a screwdriver and see if you get a spark from the coil.

[Danny shaw]

Thanks eveyone ,the car is up and running beautifully with nothing but a second hand set of ht leads and file down of the points and some connector cleaning.Also found out today the car is a 948cc insead of 803cc which im also stoked about

[beero]

Glad you got her going.
See, BMCecosse was right, it wasn't the coil!

[bmcecosse]

Ha! It IS 'NEVER' the coil. I suggested connections, and clean/gap points way back on the 5th.........

[tomas.geoghegan]

I Think Bmc knows whats comeing next hear too. It was definately the coil on my moggy. i must be Famous??//
Tomas

[bmcecosse]

Don't accept that - still to see ohms test on that 'failed' coil.........

[mattsw]

Am I famous to? Had a coil go on me about 2 year ago, deffinately coil, checked 3 times, so from now on I think the saying is "most of the time its not the coil"
but i agree very rare for it to be the coil, so much so was the last thing i checked.

[tomas.geoghegan]

I think we are in line for medal LOL
Proofs in the Pudding.
Tomas

[bmcecosse]

As I have said before - I say it's 'never' the coil because just sometimes it IS the coil............ But the number of folks who automatically waste money on a new coil every time their engine has a little stumble - drives me to despair! And the sad thing is - the 'new' coils are not as well made as good old original coils......... The whole point of all this is to highlight the fact that original coils are extremely reliable - look elsewhere for the problem!

[tomas.geoghegan]

I think your contridicting this a bit now.
Just being honest! Sorry for going on and on though.
Tomas

[bmcecosse]

Was yours an 'original' coil - or a useless modern replacement ? Do you still have the 'failed' coil?? I would love to see a meter on the terminals......