Cutting out at idle - what might be causing it

[blitzracing]

At least if its dead the fault has gone "hard" and should be a load easier to find. One thing that can cause your fault is a connection issue between the trigger head in the distributor and the amp. The trigger head gets moved by the vacuum advance, and if the wires are fractured the contact can come and go. This will kill the engine outright if it goes open circuit. If you unplug the amp you will see two tiny spades- Do a resistance check across them to see if there is conductivity (sorry I dont know the impedance of the top of my head, but its quite high). It will be open circuit if its knackered.

[Barkychoc]

Sorry to be a smartarse but it does have fuel in it doesn't it? I got caught out with this firing the car up now and again. It wasn't indicating zero on the gauge but it was totally out of fuel in the end.

[Barreti]

Yep, but its not exactly brimmed. I'll shove more in tonight. I really can't imagine this is fuel starvation but hey, I don't want to be pulling the drains up just for want of 5l of Shells finest.

[G5FTH]

The immobiliser has my vote.
Its a pain to get too but it could be disabling the signal to the ecu (?)

[blitzracing]

Literally the rev counter will drop like a stone, even when the engine is still rotating. Best seen on an engine that dies if you are driving, as the engine will keep spinning on the over run, and the rev counter will be stuck at zero. Difficult to catch at idle as the engine has little inertia.

[Loubaruch]

Now that the fault is permanent, does the fuel pump still prime when ignition is switched on?

If not try connecting 12 volts direct to the pump contacts and see if it runs.

There are several plug/sockets in the fuel pump circuit a bad connection or intermittent connection could cause the fuel pump to stop. I had a similar problem a while back and cleaned all the connectors and the fault has never returned:

http://www.bertram-hill.com/fuel-pump-schematic.ht...

[FlipFlopGriff]

I swapped the coil for a new Bosch and it ran like a dog. Had it a few years as a spare so bought another and all is well. Ian - if you've swapped loads of items at once try replacing them one by one to see if you can isolate the culprit.
FFG

[RTT]

Long shot as I'm not a tecky, but I had a similar intermittent problem in the past. Car ran great in gear, put it into neutral and it died.Local garage couldn't find the fault but a very clever man in Chesterfield did. He pulled the bonnet and started the engine up at night and observed- hey presto and a blue arc could be seen coming from the coil. - new coil and problem fixed.

[rev-erend]

Haveyou fixed it yet ?

[Barreti]

Tried again today.

5 second burst of the engine turning over.
Nothing
Wait 5 seconds and try again.
Nothing

Changed the coil
Nothing

Looking to change the rotor arm now but it's stuck. Someone gave me a tip about getting this off a while back so I'm looking for that now.

[Ballistic Banana]

I had a bizzare similar problem once when the rotor arm was lifting as spinning, couldn't see it but came to that conclusion later when it was found completely off its plastic holder. Caused cutting out issues.

BB

[Barreti]

Hi BB it's been too long mate. I hope you're well.

The effing barsteward (and every other swear word) rotor arm is off. Now I need to hoover the dizzy because of all the chips off the effing barsteward.
The effing barsteward is corroded inside. Fingers crossed this is the cause and a new one might be the answer.

:goes.off.to.get.hoover:
No not you Hoover, the other one!

Back soon with an update.

[Barreti]

Bingo. She fired before I had barely turned the key and has restarted 3 times since.

One thing worries me, though probably unduly, what if any of the chips off the rotor arm are inside the dizzy. I've never had one apart so don't know what's inside.
Can you take the top plate off and inspect inside ?

[bluezeeland]

Rotor is a bakelite like material, I think ? Couldn't cause a lot....get some compressed air and blow it out ? btw; well done !

[G5FTH]

Good stuff, glad its sorted.

I am surprised a duff rotor arm displayed those symptoms though (I'm not a mechanic).