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Sudden Death
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 12:26 pm
by simonswaffield
Could I throw out a general call for ideas and suggestions?
I have a 1963 1098 which had come back to life with sporadic but overall encouraging progress..until a few days ago, ticking along on the drive, engine quietly dies. So far I have:
1. Checked/topped up the fuel
2. Confirmed all looks well with the dizzy and wiring
3. Checked carb - no problems
4. Holding the low tension (??) lead out of the centre of the dizzy cap against the block - no spark and so fitted new coil today, and, surprise surprise.....
Nothing
Thoughts??
Ta in advance
Re: Sudden Death
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 1:33 pm
by myoldjalopy
Ignition on, first check you have 12v to the coil. If so, remove the lead to the dizzy at the dizzy and check you have 12v there. If so, suspect a fault in the dizzy. Check the 'pigtail' lead is robust and connected up properly. Carefully clean the points with very fine abrasive paper and check the points gap is 15 thou. If this doesn't help, it could be the capacitor/condensor, so worth swapping one over.
Re: Sudden Death
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:43 am
by simmitc
I wouldn't hold a low tension lead out of the top of the dizzy cap, these should be HT wires! The centre wire is the input from the coil, and so you won't get a spark out of the other end that should be in the coil.
You say that the engine "quietly dies", which is rather different to the title of "sudden death". It's not clear how you checked the carb, so let's go through a few ideas...
Does the fuel pump click or tick when you switch on the ignition? Remove the petrol pipe from the top of the carb and place in a container suitable for petrol. Ignition on for one minute. Measure the volume of petrol, you should have at least one pint. Replace pipe and oput fuel back in tank. Observe suitable precautions during this test - no naked lights, smoking, sparks, etc, work in a well ventilated area and avoid spillage.
Remove air filter and the damper from the the carb and using your finger, check that the piston moves freely up and down - when dropped, it should make a gentle clunk. refit damper and filter.
If all OK on the fuel side, then turn to the ignition. Changing the coil (unless tested with a meter and found to be faulty) really is the last thing to try. Is your car converted to -ve earth of still original +ve earth? Do you have a multimeter to assist with testing?