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Re: Thanks and an update

To: "Bernardino Carlo M.D. Roberto" <crbernardino@mac.com>
Subject: Re: Thanks and an update
From: Steve Sage <fastsage@cox.net>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:31:56 -0700
Bernardino Carlo M.D. Roberto wrote:

>
> However, the cat has been behaving badly. Drives great and then at  
> some junction all power cuts. i allow the car to sit and later on it  
> starts back up. I check things like fuel system (new), and electrical  
> ignition system (new) and no avail......................


Rob:
I had exactly the same problem you describe and finally permanently 
fixed it, after months of messing about and lots of aggravation. This 
may or may not be what's happening with your car, but since you mention 
you have a new electronic ignition, check it out just in case.

I installed a new Pertronix II ignition in the Tiger in the winter. It 
worked very well and is a great improvement to the car. When spring and 
summer came along, I started having problems in hot weather. I could be 
bopping down the freeway at speed, or just in stop and go, and suddenly 
the engine turned off. Just like someone reached over and turned the key 
off and over to the accessory position. All the electrics (radio, fans, 
lights, etc.) still worked and the engine turned over, but the car would 
not start. After a half an hour or so, it would start right up and act 
like nothing was wrong, until the next time it happened. The car had to 
be good and hot (usually) for this to occur.

I talked to Pertronix several times and after doing the tests on the 
Pertronix module itself as directed by the factory, they insisted that 
the voltage to the ignition module was somehow being reduced to below 
what it needed to run the car. Tracing every wire to and from the module 
in both directions, I finally found the cause. After I installed the 
Pertronix, the tach bounced around wildly at anything over idle speed. I 
had then wrapped some extra loops of wire around the pickup in back of 
the tach, which solved the tach issue, and it then read accurately and 
smoothly all the way up.

Unfortunately for me, I used slightly smaller wire in the loop around 
the tach than the stock wiring harness wiring. I clipped this new wire 
into both sides of the harness using press together clips. I finally 
found out that my new wire (around the tach pick up) and the push in 
wire connectors on either side of the tach were getting very, very hot 
due to the smaller wire in line and the resistance that created. When 
this happened, which of course was worse in hot weather, the car turned 
off. I spliced in new wire of the proper diameter and soldered the 
connections instead of using those clips, and two years later it's never 
happened again.

I hope that may help you track down the issue.

Steve Sage




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