All this talk about coils got me thinking about a recent ignition problem I
had on my street TR4A. I've had a Lucas Sports Coil in the car for some
years. I rebuilt the engine and the carbs, did the usual tuneup stuff and
still the car didn't seem like it had the full power it should have.
One night I was driving along and a plastic bag blew under the car at a red
light. I pulled over and looked under the bonnet to find the bag. It was
quite dark and when I went to look, I saw sparking around one of the low
tension terminals on the coil. What I found was that the terminal was loose
where it was rivited to the coil. I soldered it and the car ran a lot
better!
Last week I replaced the waterpipe that runs from the water pump to the
heater. This required me to move the coil somewhat. I put everything back
together and it wouldn't start. Took me a while to remember to check this
terminal again. It was loose again, so I replaced the coil and of course it
now runs again.
Hope this helps someone else.
Dave Kettler
'65,'66 TR4A
'60 TR3
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