I had similar problems, acted like ignition. Replaced the coil and the
crane cam ignition. Neither were bad. Part of the problem was the crane
cam (same as the old allson) sensor. It was riding on the shutter disk and
bouncing. I re-aligned the shutter disk and the engine ran much better.
Still had problems with being left on the side of the road. Would have to
wait 30 minutes and then it would run for another 10 miles.
Problem was the fuel filter. The PO put it in backwards and it looked ckean
by inspection. Took it out and it was completely clogged. Waiting 30
minutes would allow some gunk to fall with gravity and let it run. The
clogged filter made the engine act like ignition trouble.
Check your fuel filter behind the rear cover.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Rowe" <growe58@hotmail.com>
To: <Spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 6:40 PM
Subject: Checking the ignition coil?
> I've been running into one of those streaks.
>
> First the vertical link breaks. Two tows and parts on the
> slow boat from California later, I sort that out. The very
> first day that I have the car back on the road, the rear
> leaf spring breaks. Fortuneatly I have a spare. Unfortuneatly
> the spare spring is also broken. Fortuneatly broken on different
> leaves so I now have a build-it-yourself spring.
>
> And today - for the third drive in a row - I have more problems
> with the car suddenly completely cutting out. This happened
> 5 or 6 times on the drive home; luckily it restarted each time.
> The fact that the electronic tach immediately goes to zero even
> though the wheels are still turning the engine makes me think
> the problem is electrical in nature. Plus once the car backfired
> (just to draw even MORE attention to the stalling sports car).
> I can't think of how to test it though since by the time
> I get out and set up some tests, the car runs perfectly again.
>
> I checked all the ignition wiring and it seems to be tight and
> unbroken. I've also tried jiggling the key (not very scienctific
> I know) to see if the ignition switch is good and it seems to
> be OK. I have no idea how to test the electronic ignition which
> is a 10 year old Allison/Crane unit, but typically they're pretty
> reliable so I'm just going to let that go and hope for the time
> being.
>
> My number one suspect (opportunity, weapon and motive) is therefore
> the ignition coil. It's old and it's probably overdue for
> replacement anyhow. One problem: it seemed to act up more
> when the car was cold and actually behaved itself the last 6
> or 7 miles, I always thought a failing coil would be more
> troublesome when hot.
>
> Anyway, my questions (I DO have questions) are:
>
> 1)Is there any way for me to test the coil other than swapping it
> and driving around for while and hoping I don't break down?
>
> 2)Is it OK for me to put a coil from a 72 (non electronic ignition)
> spit in for the time being? (all that 6v vs 12v vs ballast resistor
> stuff confuses me).
>
> 3) Anything else I should look for?
>
> Thanks as always, you guys and gals are great!
>
> Greg Rowe
/// spitfires@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
|