Ignition help and diagnosis

[simonej]

My Chim has been sounding a bit 'funny' of late with a sort of ticking noise that I'd put down to a manifold gasket. However, I'd also noticed it felt a bit limp and then finally today I noticed it was ever so slightly rougher than normal (pretty difficult to tell though to be honest).

Anyway, I thought I'd start with the basics and check the electrical connections and low and behold I found this on cylinder 5;







Basically the end plug of the HT lead has corroded itself into the socket on the distributor cap and has snapped off. There is a lot of blue residue (from the copper?) and it all looks a bit messy. The leads are Magnacor, are about 25 months old and have covered about 12,000 miles.

So, questions:

1. What causes (or has caused) this to happen? The Magnacor leads?

2. Is it likely to be the reason I'm down on power and the engine has been a bit 'ticky'?

3. I'm looking to replace the distributor cap, rotor arm and leads. Should I bother with the coil and plugs (plugs are 1000 miles old)?

4. Is the plug in cylinder 5 likely to be damaged or wet?

5. Will this have damaged the engine at all?

6. Any good places to get the parts from?

Cheers!

[Jonny_b]

Try http://www.famousfour.co.uk/ for genuine Lucas parts. They are very helpful, but you need to ask for classic Range Rover parts - check out their website and have the part numbers ready.

Why not take the plug out and inspect? They are cheap enough to replace. As for the cause, I would contact the supplier of the leads and see what they suggest.

Jon

[Alexdaredevilz]

To be honest if your going to change the lot buy

http://trigger-wheels.com/store/contents/en-uk/d35...

[simonej]

Thanks chaps, I've ordered leads, rotor arm and cap. Famousfour were very cheap but I was unsure whether I'd be getting the correct parts and also whether the rotor arm would be the genuine one or pattern (I'd heard stories that although they are 'Lucas' parts, they're not actually the same as the original). I ended up ordering them from one of the usual TVR specialists, I've probably paid a bit more than I should have but I want to make sure I do it properly.

I'd like to try the Megajolt route but I think it would stretch my abilities a bit too far, I've also been happy enough with the old fashioned ignition up until now!

[blitzracing]

Check the plug extender on the failed lead as well. Id suspect something has gone open circuit so the HT voltage has risen much higher than it should, and subsiquently arced out from the next weakest point in the HT circuit, being the dizzy cap connection...