indignity of being Towed

[Nut17]

For the second time I have suffered the red faced indignity of having my son come to the rescue and tow me home from another Sunday meander. I thought initially that it was the fuel pump, but testing has proven that although it is not brilliant it is still functioning. The culprit once again is the condenser. This one was supplied in a box labelled "Bosch" but is clearly made in China and only survived a paltry 500 miles. I have had a rush of blood to the head and have coming via aliexpress a negative earth electronic ignition conversion kit - NZ$34 delivered. If the quality is half as good as my newly purchased BYD Sealion 6 Dual Motor 4WD Plug in Hybrid Chinese made car it should work fine.

I will update the success or otherwise of the upgrade when it arrives.

[svenedin]

Sorry to hear that. The only reliable source of new condensers is Distributor Doctor in the UK (he ships worldwide). There are pictures around of these Chinese condensers taken apart and they are complete rubbish. Good luck with the electronic module but you might want to carry the points and condenser around just in case you need to switch back in an emergency. They weigh next to nothing and if it stops the indignity of being towed so much the better. I realise shipping to NZ may be too expensive but perhaps a group of you could do a group order of condensers or ask friends or family to bring them out with them?

Stephen

[Bill_qaz]

If no spark due to condenser failure, just disconnect it. It will cause arcing at points but short term will get you home. Then replace points and condenser.

[Paladin1962]

An acquaintance of mine related to me that, apparently, a "certain" high level car brand would send out a covered recovery truck to retrieve one of it's cars that had "failed to proceed".....
Doubtless not as any favor to the owner, but to save face for the manufacturer?

[svenedin]

An acquaintance of mine related to me that, apparently, a "certain" high level car brand would send out a covered recovery truck to retrieve one of it's cars that had "failed to proceed".....
Doubtless not as any favor to the owner, but to save face for the manufacturer?

Yes!

Stephen

[Classiccars]

I guess it's part of owning a classic.The more you learn the less you hopefully brake down.

[rocco]

I guess it's part of owning a classic.The more you learn the less you hopefully brake down.

I thought it was "the more you learn, the less you know"?

I feel quite fortunate sometimes. I drove the car I bought last summer from London to Munich, bought an absolute ton of spares and didn't need any of them! Thanks in part to the seller being a great bloke and doing some work on the car before I picked it up.

Not to be cocky, just to make the point that not all Moggys are unreliable. Most of us post on here when we need help or advice on fixing stuff so it's easy to think these cars are unreliable or incapable of long distance. I'm just adding some balance.

Still, I think my most valuable and useful tool was my ADAC card!

[ndevans]

I feel quite fortunate sometimes. I drove the car I bought last summer from London to Munich, bought an absolute ton of spares and didn't need any of them! Thanks in part to the seller being a great bloke and doing some work on the car before I picked it up.

Likewise, we took our Traveller to Perugia & back. 2200 miles in 13 days without a glitch. And it had spent most of the previous 6 months in bits being welded, only returning to action the week before we went!

[svenedin]

Exactly. My car made it from London to Germany and back (Münster) without any trouble except oil consumption and this was something I knew about. I too took loads of spares and I didn't need any of them or a single tool.

Stephen

[michael4]

The best way to ensure that a component never fails is to take a spare...

[Mervin]

An acquaintance of mine related to me that, apparently, a "certain" high level car brand would send out a covered recovery truck to retrieve one of it's cars that had "failed to proceed".....
Doubtless not as any favor to the owner, but to save face for the manufacturer?

It was always alleged that owners of that marque traded in for another when the ashtrays were full.

[myoldjalopy]

I guess it's part of owning a classic.The more you learn the less you hopefully brake down.

I thought it was "the more you learn, the less you know"?

I feel quite fortunate sometimes. I drove the car I bought last summer from London to Munich, bought an absolute ton of spares and didn't need any of them! Thanks in part to the seller being a great bloke and doing some work on the car before I picked it up.

Not to be cocky, just to make the point that not all Moggys are unreliable. Most of us post on here when we need help or advice on fixing stuff so it's easy to think these cars are unreliable or incapable of long distance. I'm just adding some balance.

Still, I think my most valuable and useful tool was my ADAC card!

A good Minor, maintained and serviced regularly, and fitted with quality parts is very reliable. Its just that components in an aged car will fail at some point, irrespective of how well maintained they have been, and many have been rather neglected over the years by various POs, which stores up trouble for future owners.......and we all know from experience how the quality of current parts is variable

[geoberni]

A good Minor, maintained and serviced regularly, and fitted with quality parts is very reliable. Its just that components in an aged car will fail at some point, irrespective of how well maintained they have been, and many have been rather neglected over the years by various POs, which stores up trouble for future owners.......and we all know from experience how the quality of current parts is variable

I'm reminded of a page on the MG Enthusiasts website, dealing with SU Fuel Pumps......
https://www.mg-cars.org.uk/imgytr/sufuelpump.shtml

S.U. electric fuel pumps are amongst the most reliable fuel pumps found on older cars providing they are properly serviced and maintained. When supplied new with MGs they could be expected to easily outlive the engine without adjustment. Our cars and all their components are now well past their design life, yet many of us are still using original fuel pumps.
They will still operate, albeit unreliably, with eroded and incorrectly set contacts, poorly adjusted diaphragms and partially blocked filters. Often a sharp tap will restore a stalled pump to life for another month. This ability to just about keep working with no maintenance, has unfairly given the product a reputation for poor reliability.

There's many a Moggie owner who should remember that ....Look after your car, in many cases it's been around over 10 times longer than was originally expected of it.

[BILLYWIZ]

Good luck with the electronic ignition, I have had differing experiences with various makes on another model of car.
Note; some electronic ignitions need a modification to the base plate of the distributor.
I would have tended to stay with points and condenser from the Distributor Doctor or another supplier of quality parts.
Problems with electronic ignition can lead to the overheating of the coil, so make sure the coil you have is compatible with the electronic ignition you fit.
Bill.

[Mervin]

I agree with Bill.
I fitted +ve earth electronic ignition. Initially a module to the existing distributor then one of those awful aftermarket complete distributors.
I have now reverted to the original points system with the distributor having a full refurbishment by the Distributor Doctor.
If that module poops it's pants when driving you are stuck unless a spare module is carried and can confirm that's the problem. Yes, spare points etc. can be carried, but the old system is much easier to diagnose and "fix".

[ndevans]

This is one of those issues that splits people. Personally I've had a Powerspark electronic distributor fitted for 4 years now without issue. If it fails the yes it is a showstopper, but it needs no maintenance and runs beautifully. I carry a complete spare mechanical distributor ready to slot in, which is what I did prior to getting the Powerspark. I found it easier to do that than fiddle about with replacing points.
Agree with the comments about using quality points & rotor arms wholeheartedly.

[svenedin]

I have positive + earth electronic ignition. It's Lumention Optronic. This is made in England and rather expensive. It's bombproof and has stood the test of time since the early 1970's. The same module can be wired for negative or positive earth which is not true for the in-distributor Hall-effect type (they are one polarity or the other). I also have another complete distributor ready to drop in which has points. Both distributors are original Lucas 25D4 completely rebuilt by Distributor Doctor. I think with electronic ignition you get what you pay for. A cheap Chinese module that overheats is not worth changing from points. The main problems with electronic ignition are user error on installation, overheating of the in-distributor types (often also user error on installation with the heat transfer paste) and intolerance of poor electrical connections. There is also the issue of difficulty setting up the static ignition timing with the Hall-effect types (but not the optical types). Another issue with Hall-effect types is that it is difficult to start the car with the starting handle but with Optronic it is just the same as with points. I had a look at one of the Accuspark distributors. They are Far-East copies of the Lucas distributors and not well made but may be an upgrade to a completely worn out Lucas one.

Stephen

[moggiethouable]

Do remember to check this little beastie, when aged, the cable breaks and remakes as the engine shakes, sounds like a song lyric I know, but true.
item number 7 part number dst 107.

[Mervin]

Yes, I had an intermittent issue, some years ago, where the engine would just cut out for no reason. Visual inspection revealed nothing wrong, i.e. remove cap and check points, connections etc.. Then the engine would start! It did turn out to be that l.t. lead in the end. It was a "Lucas" item, but probably not original quality. I replaced it with a n.o.s. Lucas part which never gave any further problems.

[ndevans]

Rotor arms are not infallible either, they can crack & short and if bad enough fail totally. If you haven't got a spare you're going nowhere.
Of course, that applies whether you have electronic or mechanical ignition.