Morris Minor Owners Club

My new Lucas coil lasted just over 12 months, apparently this is quite good these days as other people have told me about 6 weeks seems to be common. New coils that dont last seems to be common knowledge,fortunately I had a very old tatty one I picked up at last years national with me. I have purchased a replacement from ESM, they have said if I send the faulty one back they will send it to the manufacturer and try to get me a refund but can't guarantee anything as it is out of warranty. As this seems to be a very common problem at the moment does anybody know of any official approach by the club or federation (as this issue will affect a lot of cars made in this period) being made?

i have had a bog standard coil i got from bull motiff,dont need anything fancy its 8 years old and still going strong .

You do realise it's not really a 'Lucas' coil....... The old coil you bought will last 'for ever' - fit it and be happy. It won't let you down.

bmcecosse wrote:You do realise it's not really a 'Lucas' coil....... The old coil you bought will last 'for ever' - fit it and be happy. It won't let you down.

I realise they are not made in the UK but they do carry the 'LUCAS' name and are sold as such. Finding old stock coils will become harder as time passes and does not address the problem or my question.

dalebrignall wrote:i have had a bog standard coil i got from bull motiff,dont need anything fancy its 8 years old and still going strong .

According to their web site Bull Motif have stopped selling one make of coil due to the high number of returns, judging by that the retailers who I imagine all use the same suppliers know there is a quality issue.

Assuming it's the insulation that's broken down, are you able to measure the resistance of the primary windings? That's the resistance measured between the two spade or stud terminals.

The suspicion is that many coils that are marked as standard 12v coils should really be run with ballast resistors.

Look on ebay and you can easily buy "Lucas" stickers for your unbranded imports.

Kevin

Fit the old coil with a nice new LUCAS sticker then - if that makes you happy!!

I spoke to some of the dealers at Cornbury including Mark from Bull Motif about the problems members were experiencing with the current so called "Lucas" coils, points,condensers etc and asked if they would approach the suppliers to see if a higher quality product could be made. Will bring up at next MMOC committee meeting.
We do have a good stock of British made points in the club stocks and am always looking out for genuine Lucas etc ignition components when sourcing for the club spares stock.

sparesman wrote:I spoke to some of the dealers at Cornbury including Mark from Bull Motif about the problems members were experiencing with the current so called "Lucas" coils, points,condensers etc and asked if they would approach the suppliers to see if a higher quality product could be made. Will bring up at next MMOC committee meeting.
We do have a good stock of British made points in the club stocks and am always looking out for genuine Lucas etc ignition components when sourcing for the club spares stock.

Thanks , could you keep us updated.

The coil on my car cost me a whopping 50p from an autojumble a few years ago, an old standard Lucas, its got a date of 64/65 and it works fine. It replaced a modern Lucas 'sport' coil...

Excellent! Fill your pockets with old coils......especially at 50p - that was a REAL bargain.

Mine is dated 1955 and still going strong, go and pick up and old one from a scrap yard.

I've acquired 3 old genuine Lucas coils dated 1966....and they all work perfectly.

While your attention is on coils, I'll do a quick thread hijack.
Here is a 12volt motorbike coil;[frame][/frame]
The shiny object is a 50p coin for scale.
The question is, what resistance should it have?

No idea really - can only guess the same as usual - 3.2 ohms or so.............

Had an email today from ESM, apparently despite only lasting 1500 miles their supplier wont even look at the coil as it is out of warranty and so ESM refuse to give a refund. Time to vote with my feet me thinks.

Oh dear....countdown to moderation.....5 4 3 2 1......
There seems to be quite a bit of bad news gathering around that company these days....

bmcecosse wrote:No idea really - can only guess the same as usual - 3.2 ohms or so.............

That cant be right, a 3.2 ohm 50p coin?

bmcecosse wrote:Oh dear....countdown to moderation.....5 4 3 2 1......

It would be a shame if moderators removed a statement of fact

While on the statement of facts, I have emailed ESM back asking them to close my account, pointing out that both their supplies and their approach to customer care is in my opinion somewhat shortsighted and therefore I will spend my money elsewhere in future. Not a problem for me and it would seem not for them either.