I am enquiring on behalf of a friend who is having poblems with her
1969 mk 3 spitfire. she has just fitted a new distributer cap and points and now the car will not start in the mornings unless you jump start it and even then the engine will race and then cut out, she does not have this problem in the afternoon when it has warmed up a bit. can anybody shed any light on this mystery for her please?In message , saint.george writes
What else might she have altered when she changed the points?
One thing that does make the 6-cylinder cars such as Vitesses and GT6s show those sort of symptoms is an air leak into the inlet manifold from the crankcase breather valve. Does your friend's Spitfire have a flat-topped air-valve attached to the inlet manifold? If so, remove the clip that holds the top on and check that the bits inside are all ok.
Same type of thing happened to my son's Spit III last year.
It was the rotor arm!
Looked OK but it wasn't. So buy a new one.
Don't necessarily trust the new dizzie cap either, if it was OK before.
Finally, if you can afford it, get electronic ignition and do away with the points.
Hope this helps.
ken
There are certainly problems with the currently available Lucas and Delco pattern caps and rotor arms. All made by the same company and boxed under various brand names.
Nine out of ten reported rotor arm failures are from owners who have fitted aftermarket uprated coils and/or electronic ignition. That's not a scientific measure, just a straw poll of those I meet on the other side of my trade stand at shows. Cheers, Bill.
I stand corrected!
Perhaps Bill's right - the parts fail because of electronic ignition! Never thought of that. My Stag need the same new bits when it kept misbehaving earlier this year and it also has electronic ignition.
Funny that Piranha hadn't picked this up until I phoned. They eventually suggested the rotor arm - but they didn't seem to think it was a common problem. But they wouldn't, would they?
And where are these "new" parts made Bill? India, methinks.
Still hate points.
Cheers
ken
If one of the carburettors is flooding very slightly, and there is an air leak, it could explain the racing and cut-out. And left overnight, there is more time for the leak to build up fuel in the manifold than trying in the afternoon which is probably the second start of the day. If the carbs are Strombergs, one of the diaphragms being cracked or punctured can produce similar symptoms too.
But the need to use jump leads suggests a weak spark. So the rotor arm is suspect. But so is the new cap. Have you checked that the carbon brush moves freely? Also, in changing the cap, have any of the HT leads got damaged or received an internal fracture from being flexed too tightly? Why was the cap changed, and do the symptoms go away it you put the old cap back?
In working on the distributor, did any of the electrical connections on the coil get damaged? Some Triumphs of this age (like my 1971 one) had a 6 volt coil and a dropper resistor. The ignition circuit goes straight to the coil while the starter motor is operated, and connects through the dropper when you stop using the starter. If the wiring delivering the direct connection is damaged or disconnected, you get no spark while the starter motor is in use, but you do once it isn't. On a cold morning or with a weak battery, the engine won't start, because there isn't the momentum to get the engine past a firing stroke when you stop using the starter. But on a warmer engine when the oil isn't so thick and or when given a faster spin from another battery, it is possible to go past a firing stroke, and magically the engine runs.
Finally, in any situation where there is a suspected weak spark, replace the capacitor in the dizzy. They don't cost much, and they don't last forever. And in changing the points, the capacitor lead will have been disturbed, so a defect here is a possibility.
Unfortunately, like many faults, this one has several possible causes, and you have a process of elimination, I'm afraid. But whenever symptoms appear after changing something, then what you have changed must be the prime suspect and the best place to start.
Jim
No, they're made in the UK, Northampton I believe. I have far more confidence in the overseas made parts I carry than those which originate in the UK. Not to say that everything made overseas is good, there are some very cheap suspension parts in circulation which I would not touch with a bargpole...... Cheers, Bill.
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