Ricky broke down today!! conked out...

[chickenjohn]

right infront of my building at work- how embarassing! I had to push him (with the kind help of passers by) to outside a security gatehouse at work.

Managed to get him started for about five mins and get to a proper parking place this lunchtime- not fuel pump- its working fine, clue- there is no spark between dizzy cap and leads when cranking the engine.

Points are opening, the nut that holds the condensor wire to the points spring (with insulating plastic washer) is tight - I tightened this which then caused the car to run for a while. Distributor and coil appear dry and the dizzy cap is reltively new and looks healthy as does the rotor arm. Leads all are present and correct. I have a few odd tools borrowed from work, no spares here and no test gear.

Dying coil or condensor?

suggestions on a postcard please, or I call the AA at 5.30 this evening....not happy, despite several people at work admiring my car and saying very nice things about it and classic cars in general......

hrmmmnph!

any other suggestions welcome please!

[Willie]

with ignition on do you get a spark at the points when you flick them
open with a screwdriver?? If no,then disconnect the condensor and
try again. If that cures it then your points will not last long if you do
not fit a new condensor pronto. If you have access to a meter then
check that you have 12v at the side connector on the dizzy WHEN
THE POINTS ARE SEPARATED WITH A PIECE OF CARD, but no volts
when the card is removed. (if no 12v then there is nothing coming
from the coil.) OK I see you have no meter so add a piece of wire
to the side dizzy connector and flick it quickly to chassis to see if it
is 'live' or not. QUICKLY! This test is done with the side connector
lead in position,not disconnected.

[chickenjohn]

Good tip, Wille! Thanks for the prompt reply. There was no spark between the points (I think) when i tried at lunch time. I didn't realise that the car could run with no condensor! I guess it may have failed internally. I'll try that. If I can get home with condensor disconnected, then I have new sets of points and condensors at home.

I'll try that (I like to only rely on the AA as a last resort- prefer to get the car going myself if I can).

thanks a lot.

[Willie]

well you have learnt the hard way that y ou should always have
spare points,condensor,and fan belt in the car. The car will not run
without condensor for long as the sparking across the points will be
dreadful, but it will prove that the condensor has gone 'full short'
if removing it allows the car to start.

[chickenjohn]

No sparking across the points, the problem was the little cloth covered internal wire that goes between the coil terminal on the outside of the dizzy, to the end of the points that the wire from the condensor also goes to. Bad connection= resistance = heat = melted plastic washer on points= AA recovery.

car is now sulking in my garage ...

In my defense, I used to carry a small tool kit, and spare points, condensor, plugs, cap, rotor arm, fan belt, bulbs, and even coil and fuel pump!

Just not got back into the "daily running Minor" swing of things with the tools and spares!!! but even that lot would not have saved the day this time.

good tips though!