New leads, new idle...bad idle!

corazon

corazon

Well-Known Member
Any ideas why just changing my leads could cause the idle to change significantly?
It wont stay ticking over unless i touch the throttle.
I do have an annoyingly stiff choke again, and questionable throttle linkage ( cable ties and wire holding bushes etc),
however it did idle before i replaced leads.
i've decided to go for a pertronix (not fitted) and cheap leads for the time being, magnecors will have to wait.

The old leads were very badly worn, with a couple of tears (!) in places, so has the timing been set to compensate perhaps?

Any help much appreciated!
 
If it was OK before you changed the leads then I would suggest that you have another check to make sure that the new ones are on in the correct order, and that they are laid out in the correct way to avoid "crossfire". I can't see why anyone would alter the timing to counteract the effect of faulty leads, but it must be said that some people do all sorts of strange things, so you never know!
 
Thanks Harvey,
think i've sorted it, i re-arranged the leads over and under as per the haynes and it seems much better.
Didn't think it would make THAT much difference..
 
'Crossfire' on HT leads is all far too common a problem.... the best way to check for it is to lift the bonnet and run the engine at night without any lights nearby. You may just be stunned as to the sparks that can fly around :shock:
 
The Rover V8 is notoriously sensitive to ignition leads. Anybody using the full performance (or more) of their engine seems to gravitate to Magnecor. Cost an arm and a leg by the standards of normal cars, but they work.

Chris
 
chrisyork said:
Cost an arm and a leg by the standards of normal cars, but they work
Click to expand...

As far as I'm concerned, Magnecor are the only option for the 4 Pot (yes I know this is a V8 thread!!). You can't buy them off the shelf, or if you can find them, they are crap copper core ones.

Phil de Wit, the boss at Magnecor, besides being constantly over-worked, is very dedicated. He made me a custom set using old 4 cyl plug boots which are no longer available in anything he could get hold of (with the weather caps).

I give Magnecor full marks.

Brian.
 
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