Jim,
Although I'll bet it's not your problem resistor or solid core wires should
work fine. Having recently found myself dead on the road I have a couple of
places to start.
Buy or make a test light, two wires and a 12 volt bulb can tell you most all
you need to check the ignition.
1. Check the + side of the coil with the ignition switch on, you should
have 12 volts.
2. Unplug the - or CB wire on the coil and see if you have 12 volts there.
If not your coil primary winding is bad.
3. Next take the wire that you took off the - side of the coil and put one
lead of the light on it. The other lead should go to the Battery positive
terminal. Now crank the engine and the light should flash. It will show
your points are opening and closing.
4. Check for spark at the plug wires. Disconnect any plug wire and put a
screwdriver in the end and hold the screwdriver real close to the engine
block or valve cover. Warning!! This is 20,000 volts or so and you can
throw the screwdriver right through the windshield if it bites you. Hold
the insulated end! If you see or hear the spark jump you got "juice"
Now if you don't have spark check the distributor cap and make sure the
carbon spring loaded button is still in the center of it. Also your rotor
is suspect at this point. A crack in it can cause a no spark condition and
is common with many of the new replacement rotors. I went through 4 before
I got one to last more than a hundred or so miles.
Mark
Nashville
TR4
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Bauder" <jimbpps@cox.net>
To: "TR List" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 7:36 PM
Subject: Plug wire and Spark Plug ???'s
> Listers,
>
> A friend has a '74 TR6. The engine was recently rebuilt in Calif. and then
> driven some 700 odd miles to deliver the car here. The trip down was
> perfect, no problems, the car ran beautifully!! However, the engine quit
> running a few miles short of my friends house, in fact they had to have it
> towed to his house! After much troubleshooting effort they still can't
> really find the problem. The next item on the list is to install a new
> copper core plug wire set! The set that is on the car is probably the
later
> resistor wire type although I am not sure.
>
> My question is: what are the consequences with going from resistor wire to
> copper and/or going from resistor plugs to non-resistor plugs or vice
versa!
> At this point I am not concerned with any RFI or noise problems. Do any of
> you Listers have any opinions on whether it will run better, worse, or the
> same?? Does anyone on the list have experience switching from one scheme
to
> the other on the same car? What happened?
>
> TIA!!
>
> Jim Bauder
> '58 TR3 (Sold and now just a memory!)
> '68 TR250 (Almost ready for paint!)
> Scottsdale, AZ
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