Engine problem.

[airsniper]

I had a similar problem a few years ago, turned out that the jet head on the carb was ever so slightly misaligned, not a problem when cold but once it warmed up the carb stuck solid and the car would cut out. When it cooled down again it started and ran fine. Took me ages to work it out!

Thank you. Thats another one to check.

On my list so far is: change the ignition coil for a known good one - a new one provided by a MM specialist.
Strip the carb.
Check the jet head and the fuel line (pump to carb) for internal collapsing.
Petrol cap.
Check all fuel filters.
If non of the above work - revert to points ignition.

[bmcecosse]

" a new one provided by a MM specialist " is NOT a known good coil You NEED a good old coil. Personally a known good points dizzy would be my first check.

[airsniper]

" a new one provided by a MM specialist " is NOT a known good coil You NEED a god old coil. Personally a known good points dizzy would be my first check.

The replacement coil is a Lucas so hopefully that should be O.K. and its the easiest and therefore my first port of call. My problem is I dont (now) know anyone with a good working 'A' series engine so I cant do a swap. Gone are the days when you knew half a dozen mates with Minis.

I had also forgot that it was Valentines day weekend so working on Gloria has been put on hold for another day.

[meh]

Ignoring your true love for a woman?

[bmcecosse]

Oh dear - 'LUCAS' - means nothing these days. What did you do with your old coil?

[SteveClem]

I agree, don't trust the'lucas' logo. Means nothing these days.

[airsniper]

Oh dear - 'LUCAS' - means nothing these days. What did you do with your old coil?

The old coil has been binned a while ago. It was half empty of oil.

Im sad to hear that the word 'Lucas' isnt held in the same esteem it used to be.

[bmcecosse]

Even in the old days it was dubbed 'Prince of Darkness'. But I always thought the products were ok. Now they are made Goodness knows where, and the quality appears to be 'variable'. Can you measure the impedance of the coil before fitting?

[airsniper]

Can you measure the impedance of the coil before fitting?

Not up to much with 'electrickery' but on my Ohm meter, '+' to '-' (Primary coil) On my lowest setting on my meter (200) it reads 2.2 corrected.

On the Secondary coil 20k on the meter it read 8.6 on both the '+' and '-' terminals.

I hope that means summat to someone.

[The vast minority]

I don't see you have checked and eliminated the ignition feed to the coil, an ignition switch can cause this symptom as can a break in the wire that manifests itself when it's hot. The expansion rate of the insulation can be such that a broken wire can have continuity when cool but when hot.........it's has not.
Something to try is run a positive feed to the coil when the issue next occurs see if it starts again and runs. This is effectively a jumper and will eliminate or confirm the above

Have you had a look at the connections on the back of the switch?
Have you got another to substitute?

dump the electronic ignition, they are totally "pointless" and absolutely unnecessary and often, anything modern is of shocking Chinese quality.

Al

[airsniper]

I don't see you have checked and eliminated the ignition feed to the coil, an ignition switch can cause this symptom as can a break in the wire that manifests itself when it's hot. The expansion rate of the insulation can be such that a broken wire can have continuity when cool but when hot.........it's has not.
Something to try is run a positive feed to the coil when the issue next occurs see if it starts again and runs. This is effectively a jumper and will eliminate or confirm the above

Have you had a look at the connections on the back of the switch?
Have you got another to substitute?

dump the electronic ignition, they are totally "pointless" and absolutely unnecessary and often, anything modern is of shocking Chinese quality.

Al

On my first post I did state:- ' Ive by-passed the loom (white/black wire) and took a wire direct from the live side of the fuse box (fuel pump take off side) direct to the coil. ' I recon if the fuel pump is getting a live feed so is the ignition coil but Ive also got a spade terminal fitted directly to the battery terminal if/when it cuts out again. As you say this will by pass the loom and ignition switch.
Reverting to points isn't a bad idea. I quite like setting gaps etc or am I just weird?

[bmcecosse]

2.2 ohms is TOO LOW That's a coil for 9 volt ballast ignition circuit which you don't have ! The correct coil will have 3.2 ohm impedance.

[The vast minority]

I don't see you have checked and eliminated the ignition feed to the coil, an ignition switch can cause this symptom as can a break in the wire that manifests itself when it's hot. The expansion rate of the insulation can be such that a broken wire can have continuity when cool but when hot.........it's has not.
Something to try is run a positive feed to the coil when the issue next occurs see if it starts again and runs. This is effectively a jumper and will eliminate or confirm the above

Have you had a look at the connections on the back of the switch?
Have you got another to substitute?

dump the electronic ignition, they are totally "pointless" and absolutely unnecessary and often, anything modern is of shocking Chinese quality.

Al

On my first post I did state:- ' Ive by-passed the loom (white/black wire) and took a wire direct from the live side of the fuse box (fuel pump take off side) direct to the coil. ' I recon if the fuel pump is getting a live feed so is the ignition coil but Ive also got a spade terminal fitted directly to the battery terminal if/when it cuts out again. As you say this will by pass the loom and ignition switch.
Reverting to points isn't a bad idea. I quite like setting gaps etc or am I just weird?

Sorry, I missed that point.
Al

[airsniper]

2.2 ohms is TOO LOW That's a coil for 9 volt ballast ignition circuit which you don't have ! The correct coil will have 3.2 ohm impedance.

Sorry. My ignorance. My (cheap) Omh meter read 0.9 when I put the leads directly together so I deducted this from the actual meter reading across the coil which was 3.1 to 3.2 I did state previously '2.2 corrected'

Once again. Many thanks to all those people who are trying to save my sanity.

Ive a bit of time tomorrow (Weds 18th ) so I can give Gloria a good run after Ive change the coil (again). Everything crossed.

[airsniper]

UPDATE: I changed the old (new) coil, obtained from my local corner car accessory shop, for the replacement new Lucas coil I got from a specific MM dealership, and went for a run. Gloria ran without fault for over 40 minutes.

On closer inspection of the old (new) coil it looks like its been leaking oil and the Ohm meter readings are: Primary coil - 3.8 Secondary 5.07. Oh, and it rattles.

I know Im not out of the woods yet and will give it further testing/running over the next few days.
Is it worth mounting the coil vertically on the inner wing to stop loss of oil instead of its present position horizontally on the dynamo?

[Declan_Burns]

It is worth mounting it on the inner wing but for cooling reasons and no vibration and not regards leakage.
That's where I have mine.

Regards
Declan[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Mine is on the inner wing and vertical - best place for it! It sounds like the 'corner shop' coil has indeed been a low impedance coil for a 9 volt system, and has been overheating.

[kennatt]

I refer you to an answer I gave some time ago..... Sometimes it IS the coil and yes mine is on the inner wing

[airsniper]

I refer you to an answer I gave some time ago..... Sometimes it IS the coil and yes mine is on the inner wing

Your comment and a few others got me thinking and put me in the right direction.

THANK YOU.

[bmcecosse]

Oh yes - the cheap/modern coils are often wrongly specified, and poor quality. The 'never the coil' motto only applies to good old original coils. In this case if we had known it was a 'corner shop' coil from the start - the recommendation would have been to swap it out asap....