Mk2 Escort Help
Discussion
First post and apologies for making it a plea for help.
I live in Portugal and last year bought a MK2 Escort estate in pretty mint condition and 35k on the clock, it was stored for 30 years so I've been slowly going through everything, keeping it on the road all the time, brakes, accuspark ignition etc. On the list was a fuel line to do, it was done later than I wanted as I knew I had some knocking about so didnt want to buy more, big mistake, I had a fuel line break and a fire which did a bit of damage but could have been loads worse, I managed to save the car with a hosepipe. Ever since then (December) I've been getting it back to its former glory, all new pipes, replaced burned out wires, airbox, throttle cable, loads of plastics and got it back on the road in March. It hasnt been the same, last week I replaced the distributor cap and rotor arm and all plugs but it still had a bit of a missfire. Yesterday was a real problem, driving to the inlaws about 30 miles away drove lovely, had a few too many beer so my wife was driving hhome, she hates the car anyway so it fired up no problem then died after only a few seconds, it wouldnt start from then on, fuel was getting there but there was no spark, I gave up with no tools pretty soon after and got recovered, the recovery guy heard it turn over for about 2 seconds and said it was a dry start and blamed the fuel pump and asked the ignition to be on and said he couldnt hear it, not sure he heard about mechanical pumps. I had a look last night and all day today. No spark, fuel getting there, leads all check out and its a new dist cap and rotor arm, cant check accuspark points but wires to the "Points" are good, coil shows 1.6ohms between spade conectors, fuses all ok and changed. 12v at the coil, now the coil is a ballested one as I had that system before the fire but cut out the ballast as it burned, but it doesnt seem to have affected the coil. Battery is good, earths have all been cleaned today, it has an original starter solenoid with 4 outputs, one from the battery one to starter one from power when starting which is 12v when cranking but the last one starter signal wasnt connected to anything, it has a ring connector and if it hadnt started I would have said someone is playing with me, wiring diagram looks like it goes to + on the coil, with it connected it still doesnt start, the solenoid starter signal doesnt show any voltage with ignition on or cranking
Is there anything I can check, mechanics here dont come out and its difficult to get a good one. I'm thinking it has to be either the solenoid or the accuspark points but any pointers at all would be really appreciated.
I live in Portugal and last year bought a MK2 Escort estate in pretty mint condition and 35k on the clock, it was stored for 30 years so I've been slowly going through everything, keeping it on the road all the time, brakes, accuspark ignition etc. On the list was a fuel line to do, it was done later than I wanted as I knew I had some knocking about so didnt want to buy more, big mistake, I had a fuel line break and a fire which did a bit of damage but could have been loads worse, I managed to save the car with a hosepipe. Ever since then (December) I've been getting it back to its former glory, all new pipes, replaced burned out wires, airbox, throttle cable, loads of plastics and got it back on the road in March. It hasnt been the same, last week I replaced the distributor cap and rotor arm and all plugs but it still had a bit of a missfire. Yesterday was a real problem, driving to the inlaws about 30 miles away drove lovely, had a few too many beer so my wife was driving hhome, she hates the car anyway so it fired up no problem then died after only a few seconds, it wouldnt start from then on, fuel was getting there but there was no spark, I gave up with no tools pretty soon after and got recovered, the recovery guy heard it turn over for about 2 seconds and said it was a dry start and blamed the fuel pump and asked the ignition to be on and said he couldnt hear it, not sure he heard about mechanical pumps. I had a look last night and all day today. No spark, fuel getting there, leads all check out and its a new dist cap and rotor arm, cant check accuspark points but wires to the "Points" are good, coil shows 1.6ohms between spade conectors, fuses all ok and changed. 12v at the coil, now the coil is a ballested one as I had that system before the fire but cut out the ballast as it burned, but it doesnt seem to have affected the coil. Battery is good, earths have all been cleaned today, it has an original starter solenoid with 4 outputs, one from the battery one to starter one from power when starting which is 12v when cranking but the last one starter signal wasnt connected to anything, it has a ring connector and if it hadnt started I would have said someone is playing with me, wiring diagram looks like it goes to + on the coil, with it connected it still doesnt start, the solenoid starter signal doesnt show any voltage with ignition on or cranking
Is there anything I can check, mechanics here dont come out and its difficult to get a good one. I'm thinking it has to be either the solenoid or the accuspark points but any pointers at all would be really appreciated.
Check the rotor arm is not shorting the HT to earth or , if fitted with a resistor , that the resistor has not gone open circuit , also check the inside of the distributor cap for signs of tracking.I have known nearly new ones to fail occasionally.
Edited by Auntieroll on Monday 4th June 21:29
mazzamark said:
Could the resistance be ok at the coil and it still not be working, that is what was throwing me off.
The coil may be ok, the problem is it has been overheating and the high voltage side of it could be breaking down, if it works you could keep an eye on it and if a misfire appears it will be the first thing to checkThe points will be burnt but they may clean up
What you have done is applied 12 volt through the points to a 9 volt or 6 volt coil
As an example -
12 volts at a 4 Ohms coil = 3 Amps current draw = Good
12 volts at a 2 Ohms coil = 6 Amps current draw = Bad = Contact set/points burning
12 volts at a 1.5 Ohms coil = 8 Amps current draw = Very Bad = Contact set/points burning quickly
I suggest that you sort the points and replace the condensers/capacitors
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