dodgy new ignition parts

[trabant]

Has anyone else had bother with badly made new ignition parts ? I recently bought a new distributor since its been fitted I've gone through three condensers ! Now using the genuine article from.my old dizzy with no bother .

[bmcecosse]

New dizzy - from what source ?

[martin418]

yes my recently new in a ''lucas box'' condensor failed yesterday causing a misfire , i had a loss of power and misfire 2 months back which went away and then yesterday it did the same quite close to home so i did the normal fix of fitting an old one i had laying about and it now runs fine and ticks over better , the quality of parts now is very poor and does not look like improving

[liammonty]

It's been known for years that the modern ignition parts are rubbish - numerous posts on here and indeed in Minor Matters. I and others have also said several times that the 'Distributor Doctor' makes excellent quality replacement parts, I.e. Condensers, rotor arms, points and so on. Well worth buying them from him - I got tired of parts failing and started to use his bits, or new old stock when available, and haven't had any more trouble. Alternatively, you could shell out and buy a replacement 'electronic' dizzy set up, but I'm a bit wary of the quality of some of them at the price they are offered at and have heard of them failing. It's also worth knowing that 'Lucas' is now actually 'Lucas TVS', an Indian company using the Lucas name. You can draw your own conclusions...

[trabant]

The dizzy in question was from Accuspark have to say the whole thing looks a little cheap and nasty compared to the genuine article however needs dictated it had to be bought and fitted. I'm particularly unimpressed as it took the better part of a month to reach me and now it eaten multiple condensers which isn't really very useful when it goes in the dark in the middle of nowhere when you're trying to get you five month old son home.

[trabant]

Having worked with reliant in Tamworth I can tell you the indian dizzies back then were naff and caused a lot of grief I'm sticking to points specifically for the reason that if an electronic unit packs in you've no chance of bodging it to get home.

[liammonty]

Totally agree - I had an electronic conversion on my T2 VW, but always carried the old points condenser etc in the glove box just in case as I heard of so many people getting stranded when the electronic set up failed! For what it's worth, if you want to stick with all original, Distributor Doctor also fully reconditions the original units - not cheap, but an excellent job. I got the DM2 on my 1962 948 done, but with later 25 d innards, and the car runs beautifully now.

[James k]

I had exactly this problem at the start of the year. I had three condenses fail in less than two months. I upgraded to a Powerspark electronic 45d and haven't had any (ignition related) problems ever since. I have also heard that the distributor doctor condensers are good quality if you want to stick with points. Alternatively you could just wire in a normal high quality capacitor. Easy to get, cheap and reliable.

I do think that electronic ignition is the best option though. There are no points or condensers to worry about, mine has worked reliably for almost a year now and there are members on here who have been running them with no problems for much longer.

[bmcecosse]

Most with Accuspark have reported good results. You seem to have been unlucky - but after the first capacitor failed - where did you get the replacements? The electronic units do seem to be super reliable - and of course the 45D is superior to the older design 25D.

[ManyMinors]

I do think that electronic ignition is the best option though. There are no points or condensers to worry about, mine has worked reliably for almost a year now and there are members on here who have been running them with no problems for much longer.

There are also many of us who have been running completely standard cars with points and condensers for even longer with total reliability

I do completely agree that there have been some poor quality replacement components on the market but that doesn't mean that the original set-up is flawed.

[James k]

I do think that electronic ignition is the best option though. There are no points or condensers to worry about, mine has worked reliably for almost a year now and there are members on here who have been running them with no problems for much longer.

There are also many of us who have been running completely standard cars with points and condensers for even longer with total reliability

I do completely agree that there have been some poor quality replacement components on the market but that doesn't mean that the original set-up is flawed.

Indeed, but given the situation as it is (poor components), the electronic is the better option. There's also no need to set the points gap.

[ManyMinors]

There are plenty of good quality components on the market (and there are poor quality electronics of course).
I don't regard setting the points (about once a year perhaps?) a major headache personally on a car which naturally requires a certain level of maintenance.

[les]

The problem with some of these clever gadgets is they can turn a car that can be fixed by the roadside into one that can't? If you're going to do that, you might as well get a modern car and at least enjoy the comfort!

[aupickup]

like me

[ManyMinors]

like me

Well, I have to say there's a lot to be said for it - particularly now that a Minor isn't the cheap car it once was. There are some very good modern cars on the market for very attractive prices. I'm lucky enough to have a modern car for long journeys and a Minor for local ones and I appreciate the good (and less good!) points of both but much as I love my Minor if I had to have just one vehicle to do everything now I rather doubt I would choose a Morris Minor.

[aupickup]

yes I do tend to agree and the choice I had to make
especially as they are not the cheap run arounds any more
I have been more than happy with my modern mini and the price less than a very good saloon

[myoldjalopy]

Use Distributer Doctor ignition parts.............they are very good, in my experience.

[dalebrignall]

if you send the dizzy back to accuspark im sure they will send you a replacement ive fitted 2 of thease systems and found them to be toatally reliable .

[aupickup]

as dale says
maybe you have just been unlucky

[trabant]

All three dodgy parts were from accuspark and having tried dealing with them over this I've gotta say their customer service stinks. I've subsequently purchased an intermotor condenser which I've always found to be reliable enough so we will see how that goes.