V8 guilt

G

gosnell

New Member
I feel so bad after selling my V8 the ignition has failed the new owner.
A week before the car was sold I had it serviced and a electronic ignition fitted (supplied from simonbbc),it was fitted with a full 12 volt coil but the supply was through the ballast wire. After picking the car up It drove fine the coil showed no signs of ovearheating but I was concerend.Iadvised the new owner to take advise as it should have a full 12v supply but the car did seem to be ok with the reduced voltage.I suggested maybe taking a supply from the window washer water pump. Even though I told the new owner of my concerns it still did not make me feel happy when I found out that the car had broken down due to the ignition.


John
 
It could cause it to fail to start, rather than breakdown while running, as the ballasted supply won't cause the coil to overheat, all it will do is give a reduced spark, which once it's running will keep it going even though it's not as good as it should be. Running a non-ballasted (12v) supply to a ballasted coil will cause the coil to overheat, not the other way around.
 
Doh... I've had similar. We sold my wife's nissan figaro a couple of years back and the gearbox seals went on their way home. We sorted that between us but still felt bad.

Difficult but if you tried to do the right thing and sold it in good faith you really shouldnt feel bad and those parts should still be in warranty. 40 year old cars have the occasional issue unfortunately!

Rich.
 
what I dont know was it a failure due to the item failing ( in other words would it have failed regardles of the voltage) or was it due to the reduced voltage.The new owner has the invoice from simonbbc so maybe he will exchange the unit.On a side note the car had NEVER missed a beat untill this episode!!

John
 
Unfortunately,these things sometimes happen with older cars (and also newer ones); I can understand how you feel but I'm sure it will resolve itself in time. At least the new owner knows that you had recently tried to improve it and will benefit in the long-run once the initial problem is sorted out.
 
Hi all
It was me who bought Johns v8 and she's a beauty ! I do understand things happen with older motors , and i'm sure i'll get to the cause of the problem . Just a pain that i can't talk to the supplier of the kit until Monday . We've got her running on points for now and she doesn't start to willingly or sound as sweet as with ignition kit , I'm assuming because she;s timed to run on that system ? I bought a multi meter to test few things ( 0.2 volts through my tongue , 3 volts mobile phone battery , now that's broken to ! ) Not to clever with electrics but there is 12.7 volts at coil positive at 2500 rpm so that cant of cooked it , Will talk with supplier tomorrow .
Cheers Stina
 
When I fitted an Aldon Ignitor to my P4 I had to move the distributor quite a few degrees to get the timing right again as it was so retarded, so having reverted to points no doubt your timings will also be out
 
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