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Range Rover Classic - no Spark

Hello Everyone, I have a 1989 Range Rover. I am getting no spark from the coil. I have gone through all the tests in the service manual and the book tells me it is either the coil or the plug wires, both of which have been replaced. I have tested the ignition load relay on its own and it closes with 12 volts. The strange thing is that when I test the relay socket I get less than 0.5 volts through the two contacts that are supposed to activate the relay, no matter what position the ignition switch is in. Does anyone know the correct voltage needed to activate this relay or is there an inline fuse I am not finding. If I am on the wrong track and the problem lies elsewhere please help. The electrical diagrams in the service manual I have are not correct, so I am kind of in the dark. Here is a link to the manual I am using,

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. Before this problem the engine was overheating due to a bad radiator, so I replaced the radiator. Then the water pump went out. I replaced the pump and the thermostat. All seemed well and after 2 days of normal driving with no problems it quit on the highway at 60 mph as if I had just turned off the ignition. I pulled over and it would not start. After 10 minutes checking connections and finding nothing wrong it started. I parked it when I arrived at work at 7am & restarted it at 11am & 3pm with no problems. Then at 4pm when I was to leave for the day it would not start and has not turned over since. I thought it may be the coil, amplifier, alternator, wires, relays or fuses. But like I stated above I have tested and ruled them out using the service manual. I have no way of testing the ignition switch out of the vehicle or checking voltages in the wiring since I do not have an accurate electrical diagram. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Michael

Reply to
Michael
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Check the earth connection from the amplifier unit under the coil to the inner wing, I've had lots of trouble from these in the past.

Martin

Reply to
Oily

On my engine the amplifier is still mounted to the distributer, but I have heard about a modification where the amplifier is mounted elsewhere because of problems caused by heat. I am guessing you have the mod. I will check all the grounds again to be sure. Thanks, Michael

Reply to
Michael

I'd bet that its the amp that has failed. I've seen 2 fail and in both cases the test procedures failed to diagnose it. The symptoms sound exactly like the way ours failed.

Reply to
Tim Jones

Peggy was an '89 and the amp was mounted under the air mass sensor as std the plugs are ( here I go again) poor quality and need cleaning now and again usually when one cylinder bank goes awol I also needed to replace several of the coil wires due to internal corrosion after various problems. check the feed to the coil ( ignition on) using a meter battery neg to coil negative should be approx 12v if not looks like coil probs the amp needs a good earth any reading between the -ve battery terminal and the case of the amp is a problem. to check the amp turn the ignition off and check the voltage again between the battery -ve and coil -ve if you are not getting a zero reading the amp has a fault that bit of info courtesy of the very old Haynes pre- take everything to garage edition

Derek

Reply to
Derek

Hey Derek,

I tried what you suggested and got .004 volts. Not much but I guess it is enough to tell me the amp is the culprit.

Thanks for the tip, Michael

P.S. I know this will get a laugh, but does anyone know where you can get accurate electrical diagrams for rovers. Normally all you need is a good parts manual and electrical diagrams and you can fix anything.

Reply to
Michael

NP, its a shame that the newer Haynes are so lack lustre even so thats a very low reading my meter would have missed it completely. Best diagrams are on Workshop Manuals and RAVE manuals slight problem is they started ( I think ) around 1995, the early Haynes are fair but give me eyestrain If you want drop me an email and I'll post you some links to download sites for pdf manuals always handy! remove nospambaby before posting Derek

Reply to
Derek

On or around 7 Oct 2006 09:00:22 -0700, "Michael" enlightened us thusly:

I've seen a rotor arm go short-circuit to the post inside. Mind, you do get a spark from the coil lead, just not at the plugs. Took a while to diagnose.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

On or around 7 Oct 2006 13:14:33 -0700, "Michael" enlightened us thusly:

The later distributors tend to have the amp on the side of the dizzy body.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

The place I used to work it was the standard thing to do to the apprentice's car - let him spend days sorting out the problem.

Reply to
EMB

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Derek had it correct. It was the amplifier. On my rover the amp is mounted to the side of the distributor, where it is exposed to a lot of heat. And since I recently had to replace a faulty radiator that makes perfect sense that it woud fail. Just too many problems in a row, my sanity is starting to suffer.

Thanks again, Michael

Reply to
Michael

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