ignition trouble

stina

stina

New Member
Hi all
If you read gosnells post (v8 guilt ) you will know of my break down Friday evening . Today i,ve spoken to simonbbc re: ignition module , he is a top guy and is going to send me a new kit at reduced price as the original appears to of failed at only a few hundred miles ., and i was not the original purchaser (it was bought and fitted just before i bought the car ) My question , any ideas as to why it failed ? also their seems to be some issues as to where to take a non resisted feed from , is the washer pump a good idea ? It has 12 v standard (non resister coil ) . Any advice gratefully received .
Cheers stina
 
Hi Stina,

I've heard from other classic owners that simonbbcc is a good guy to deal with, and certainly his ebay feedback supports that. I couldn't say why your unit appears to have failed; all I could say is that all electronic modules seem very sensitive to a slightly iffy earth.

When I first fitted Pertronix to Occy, she ran beautifully then started to develop a slight misfire. I removed the module from the dizzy baseplate, gave it and the baseplate a good clean and emery rub, refitted the module and it went back to running like a dream - and has done since.

I took a 12V feed from the washer pump and that worked fine - but it's been pointed out on here (and quite rightly) that if a fault develops on other items that are fed from the same fuse (reverse lights IIRC?) you can be left with a dead engine. So it's on my list to run a separate supply from the ignition switch at some point - once the rest of the list has shortened somewhat! :roll:

Cheers,
 
Do you have the prefix number - chassis number?

Is it an auto or manual?

I wouldn't take an igntion feed from the washer bottle personally, but if you can answer the two questions above, I might be able to tell you where it should come from.

Richard
 
Hi
She's a 74 auto ,numbers ( from v5 doc ) engine 451.....D , chassis 451.....E . next question , what size , amps , wire to use ? Will also check all connections , earths ect .
stina
 
stina said:
Hi
She's a 74 auto ,numbers ( from v5 doc ) engine 451*****D , chassis 451*****E . next question , what size , amps , wire to use ? Will also check all connections , earths ect .
stina
Click to expand...

As above would be better, I'd be wary of putting that much info on an open forum, and only give the sequential series numbers where you need to.
 
Yeah thanks Harvey , did wonder if i was a being a bit silly after ! Hopefully no harm done . Just desperate for as much info as possible . Want to get her running good again , only done about 100 miles since i bought her .
Cheers stina
 
Two problems I remember encountering when I first bought my V8 around 17 years ago, after fitting electronic ignition.

Firstly - the small earth braid in the distributor baseplate had come adrift (I cleaned it up and resoldered it back).

The "brand new and very expensive" sparkplugs the vendor kept enthusing about were the wrong type with the wrong gap!
 
Hi , their can't be too much wrong because she runs on the points , bit rougher than with electronic module , but o.k . when the new kit turns up i'll clean and check everything before trying electronic ignition again . Still would like to know best place to take 12v supply from .
Cheers stina
 
Is the V8 is like the 2200, with a length of resistance wire in the loom as a ballast wire? If so, it's easy to bypass the ballast wire behind the dash to keep everything running along the original wiring route. On mine, it ran from behind the instrument cluster to beneath the servo on the right hand chassis leg. It was joined with 2 inline bullet connectors (I think). I just ran a length of normal wire along the same route as the rest of the loom and connected it in instead of the original wire. I've left the original wire in the loom in case I need to return the car to original at any stage.

Wherever you take the feed from, it's worth taking a copy of the original wiring diagram and updating it so it reflects what's actually on the car. Makes fault finding in the future so much easier.

I fitted an A-Series spares kit, which looks very similar to the Simon BBC kit. It came with a small pouch of silicone to smear between the electronic module and the distributor base plate. This is supposed to help with heat transfer and reduce failure.
 
stina said:
Still would like to know best place to take 12v supply from .
Cheers stina
Click to expand...

Sorry - I meant the suffix not the whole chassis number :oops:

Anyhoo - the best place to take the feed from is where it was designed to be taken from, i.e. the top of fuse 19/20.

The three white wires are ones in the top of 19/20.

fusebox.jpg


The thicker one is the feed from the ignition switch and one of the other two goes to the ballast resistor. The other one goes to a connector which feeds various things including ignition warning light, tacho, brake warning light, and other stuff.

If I was doing the job, I would take the feed from here. If you can work out which one feeds the ballast resistor, just cut it before it gets there and connect a new wire of the same thickness to it and feed the coil with this.

Richard
 
Cheers Richard , i'll have a proper look tomorrow afternoon ( have to work mornings to pay for parts and fuel ) looks like a proper solution if i can trace correct white wire .
I'm a bit new to internet , would probably sent bank details , card numbers and pin if you'd of asked !
Thanks stina
 
One more question , what am i looking for when i'm looking for the ballast resister ? is it a wire of some description ? Am going out to the garage to have a look . ignition module didn't turn up in post but can do some investigating .
stina
 
stina said:
One more question , what am i looking for when i'm looking for the ballast resister ? is it a wire of some description ? Am going out to the garage to have a look . ignition module didn't turn up in post but can do some investigating .
stina
Click to expand...

Hi Stina,

The "ballast resistor" is, as you say, a wire in the loom - usually pink/white.

If you have a look 1/2 way down the page on >this thread< there's a pic I posted when I was putting a Pertronix module in that shows the wire.
 
Hi now having a nightmare , ignition turned up in post , so was fiddling about with car , did manage to work out that pink and white wire was ballast resister , ( you have just confirmed this ) but couldn't work out which of the two white wires from fuse box fed onto ballast wire . So just to get it running took feed from washer bottle with replacement ignition module fitted , all wires in correct places . It fired straight up , ran for 20 secs or so then stopped and wouldn't start again . That's how i had to leave it , gotta do tea go shopping ect . Don't know what to try next , think it's burnt out ignition again .
stina
 
What coil do you have fitted? If you have a ballasted coil and run it with a non ballasted feed for too long, it won't like it, even though the electronic module is designed to run unballasted.

The ballast resistor wire joins the white wire behind the instrument module. That's easy to remove to get to it. I'd be reluctant to fiddle with the fuse box too much, apparently they have a reputation for overheating and causing fires. This is is going to be most likely on the high current fuses for the headlights etc, but you'll have to disturb it to splice in a new wire in place of the white feed to the ballast resistor.
 
Apologies for both hijacking the thread and 'borrowing' pictures from the other thread!



and



Since the joint with the ballast resistor wire and white/yellow wire is just below the coil, am I correct in assuming this is the 'lower' voltage side of the connection i.e. the white/yellow wire from this joint goes to the coil + terminal?

Where (in terms of its actual physical positioning) is the other end of the ballast resistor wire located in the wiring loom, and what colour wire is jointed to the ballast resistor wire at that end?

EDIT: Tom W has answered my q before I sent it! LOL!!!! But is that so for all P6 V8's?

I thought all the P6 V8's had ballasted coils as standard when they were built, yes?
 
Hi Tom and darth , got a full 12v coil with ignition kit , it ran for 20 secs or so yesterday , then stopped and wouldn't go again . I had to leave it at that point , other commitments . It's wired as per instructions , wondering if i'm missing something simple , broken down coil ht ect . Also wondering if and when i eventually get it running , could i feed coil with 12v from washer and leave ballast feed connected . Would this be wired in series and give max of 12v ? I don't want to get into removing dash ect , car is top condition , didn't really want a project , hay hoo ! Give it another afternoon then have to get an auto sparky involved
 
On the subject of the ballast cable, I've been looking through some old pictures of one of my cars and IIRC the ballast cable joins a standard cable (+12v end) near the PAS resevoir as shown below;

ballasti.jpg


It's been a few years since I by passed mine, and I know I did join to the original cable somewhere in that area. Looking at the pics I had rewrapped the loom from that point so I think I must have done this when I replaced the cable. I also have a strange feeling the connection is made externally to the loom like the one near the coil. Unfortunately I'm away at the moment but can check the car Saturday morning if you want.
Regards,
Dave
 
dmcsweeney said:
On the subject of the ballast cable, I've been looking through some old pictures of one of my cars and IIRC the ballast cable joins a standard cable (+12v end) near the PAS resevoir as shown below;

ballasti.jpg


It's been a few years since I by passed mine, and I know I did join to the original cable somewhere in that area. Looking at the pics I had rewrapped the loom from that point so I think I must have done this when I replaced the cable. I also have a strange feeling the connection is made externally to the loom like the one near the coil. Unfortunately I'm away at the moment but can check the car Saturday morning if you want.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...

Cheers, I would appreciate that! :D

stina said:
Hi Tom and darth , got a full 12v coil with ignition kit , it ran for 20 secs or so yesterday , then stopped and wouldn't go again . I had to leave it at that point , other commitments . It's wired as per instructions , wondering if i'm missing something simple , broken down coil ht ect . Also wondering if and when i eventually get it running , could i feed coil with 12v from washer and leave ballast feed connected . Would this be wired in series and give max of 12v ? I don't want to get into removing dash ect , car is top condition , didn't really want a project , hay hoo ! Give it another afternoon then have to get an auto sparky involved
Click to expand...

1) No, if you are wanting 12v straight to the coil, I would seriously advise not connecting a 12v supply in parallel to the ballast wire (I assume you mean in parallel, not series). If there was a fault which would normally blow the fuse which powers the washer bottle, there's a risk the fuse would not blow (as there would be two conducting paths carrying the current). Even if it did blow, the ballast supply would then end up continuing to supply the fault. i.e. the car would possibly end up with a damaged loom... if not worse!

2) If you do get an auto sparky, make sure he/she knows about classic cars.

I do wish you luck!
 
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