In a message dated 4/24/00 9:55:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
mwalter@luminet.net writes:
<< Downshifted and popped the clutch. Nothing. So,
muttering a few choice words to myself, I let 'er coast to the shoulder of
the road. Turned the key. It started right up!!! Drove home, no problem.
Later that day I took 'er out again. Brought the better half with me. It
behaved. But, no radio. Not on AM. Not on FM. No stations. Damn!!
Saturday morning I went out to see what I could see. I turned the key,
turned on the radio. It was working great!!!
My question... What do I have to sacrifice to Lord Lucas before I can feel
confident that I will return from wheever I choose to go? >>
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Start looking for loose connections. Especially loose grounds, which seem to
be a very common problem. You have over 20 years to build up rust on some of
the connections. My fuse block was rusty where the fuses touch the contacts.
One day, my wipers, fuel gauge, tach and heater motor stopped working. As
soon at I put my finger on the fuse, they all started again. A new fuse
block isn't very expensive.
Look around under the bonnet and also under the dash for grounds. Take the
screw out, it may have several black wires connected to one screw. Clean the
place where they make the ground, and you might have to replace the ring
terminals. Make sure the screw isn't rusty, and everything is shiney. Put
the screw back in and coat it all with vaseline or dielectric grease to slow
down corrosion.
British electrical system have gotten a bad reputaion over the years, but
they are basically sound. If you could take corrosion and DPOs out of the
equation, they would work fine. Every time you get a chance to work on your
car, clean up one electrical piece (relay, motor, connection block). Take
the wires off it, clean them, make sure the connectors are tight and the
wires in them are secure, and put it back together.
Good luck.
Allen Hefner
SCCA Philly Region Rally Steward
'77 Midget
'92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
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