Chimaera not starting
Discussion
Driving along Monday 3 weeks ago, light rain. Engine starts to miss like it is running out of fuel then dies, I have 1/2 a tank of fuel. Will not restart, the odd hesitation but no start. Call out the RAC to look at and get me home. The man says it is the ignition amp. At home I check the spark, none, I order a new amp, check the coil, 0.5 OHMS & 5000OHMS, out side the spec so I order a new one and a set of plugs. The leads are the fat Magnicor type about 2 years old. With the new parts fitted it will still not start, fires occasionally but will not run. Have checked I have 12 volts at the coil. There is a spark but it is orange not blue/white and it dose not crack, that is direct from the coil with a piece of copper wire HT lead not any of the HT existing leads.
So the question is why no spark of any power?
So the question is why no spark of any power?
Colin RedGriff said:
Strange
- low tension wires reversed?
- is the copper HT lead definitely good, did you try it with one of the Magnecor ones?
Low tension reversed, I am 99% sure that I put the coil on the same way around as I took it off, One side is female and the other side is male but I did have to put the connectors on. I cannot find a wiring diagram in the book that gives colours for the amp type circuit to confirm the + & - sides. As to the HT lead direct from the coil to earth I have tried it with everything apart from wet string.- low tension wires reversed?
- is the copper HT lead definitely good, did you try it with one of the Magnecor ones?
Goaty Bill said:
Distributor Timing slipped?
Distributor cap / wet / carbon tracking / rotor?
(some rotors will fail quite easily)
These are nice cheap things to check first.
I am not getting a good spark directly from the coil so we have not got as far as the distributor yet. The timing I do not think will effect the quality of the spark only the ability of the engine to run.Distributor cap / wet / carbon tracking / rotor?
(some rotors will fail quite easily)
These are nice cheap things to check first.
Colin L said:
You need a new coil, i had this problem years ago the coil will show ok on tests but it sounds like a new one needed, they are cheap
hope it helps
Colin L
I have put on a new coil, checked with the company who supplied it and retested it and it is correct. The old one was way out of spec.hope it helps
Colin L
Does any one know how to test the ignition amp? It is a new one but I wondered if there was a way of checking it? The company I bought it from is not back at work until Tuesday next week.
Thanks Len.
EGB said:
Bible says. "measure output voltage from negative terminal. this will switch as engine turns over"
Yes I have tried that, it is difficult to get an accurate reading with an analog meter but the is a pulse of sorts. The inside of the distributor looked wet and dirty, tried cleaning it with a small piece of rag and a squirt of WD have left it for 24 hours to dry out.I have tried the Coil and Amp of another TVR and they both work.
Any other suggestions?
As I do not have a wirering diagram. the one in the book is no good it has the wrong colors etc and does not show the two resistor in the circuit, dose anyone know what value they are supposed to be?
Many thanks Len.
penno said:
I'd take a couple of plugs out bet the cylinders are flooded, dry them on gas ring and pop them back and try again, this happened to mine when the amp failed.
Tried it with new plugs, dried out ones all to no avale. Still think there is no crack in the spark, can the hall effect unit in the distributor go down?M@H said:
LenChim said:
I have tried the Coil and Amp of another TVR and they both work.
Any other suggestions?
Surely if you have swapped these parts out and got the car to work then the diagnosis points back to these parts being at fault - did you swap them independently or all in one go?Any other suggestions?
JonathanT said:
LenChim - do you mean you tried your new coil and old amp on a different TVR and they work fine? or you tried known good parts from elsewhere on your Chim?
I have tried my coil and my amp separately and together in another TVR and that TVR worked with my coil and my amp. So my amp and coil work.
M@H said:
Aaaahh, makes more sense now ...so next one for me would be to take a 12v feed from the battery to the LT connection on the coil and try again, then you can prove if it is the feed to the coil or not. (or are you there already)
That is were I am up to I have checked the voltage at the coil and it does say 12V. I have also just managed to get hold of a Land Rover Dico proper service book and it does show how to do a detailed step by step check item by item wire by wire of the voltages and voltage drops that should be expected through out the V8 ignition system. It also has a section on how to test the distributor. So I am off to have a couple of hours checking. Thanks Len.Well I have checked all the voltages and they are within spec. Checked the Resistance of the Pickup Module is 3.5k ohms so is in mid range (3 to 5k ohms). Looking in the distributor I noticed that the reluctor was all rusty, so I took it off and gave it a wire brush to clean it, I also noticed that the pick up points were not all the same all the way down seem as though they had been rusted away. They started square at the top lower but down they were rounded. I put it all back together, reset the gap at 0.25mm (range 0.20 to 0.35)I also put a Positive lead directly from the battery to the + side of the coil, pressed the tit and it started. It as rough as a bears bum, the revs go up and down from 1500 to 500. Let it run for a few minuets, put my hand near the exhaust manifold, numbers 5 and 7 pipes were cooler than the rest. Took all the plugs out, this was the new set. I have to say they (5&7) did not look wet so ether they were firing intermittently or the injectors are down. Tried to trace the wires back to the ECU but my plug does not seem to match up with the book. I will see if I can upload a pic. It seems I can't, if any body as any "simple" instructions on how to add a pic let me know.
Well I will put the old plugs back in tomorrow and see what happens.
Many thanks, Len.
Well I will put the old plugs back in tomorrow and see what happens.
Many thanks, Len.
Or the really easy way...
When you're editing your message, look just above the editing box and you'll see a link that says "upload an image (beta)". Don't let "beta" put you off; it works fine. Click the link, then you can click a button to browse for the image file on your computer. It'll then upload the picture to Thumbsnap and automatically insert the image link into your message.
When you're editing your message, look just above the editing box and you'll see a link that says "upload an image (beta)". Don't let "beta" put you off; it works fine. Click the link, then you can click a button to browse for the image file on your computer. It'll then upload the picture to Thumbsnap and automatically insert the image link into your message.
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