Subject: [Healeys] Ignition Problem BJ8

From: Jonas Payne <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 20:06:38 +0000

For the past 2 weeks, my car has been starting just fine, and can run at idle
indefinitely, but within minutes of taking off for a drive, conks out and will
not restart - no spark.  Initially, after a few minutes, the car would restart
and run for about 30 to 40 seconds before conking out again.

Finally it would not start at all.  At that point, I swapped out the coil and
condenser with one from an operating car and it still wouldn't start.

Over the weekend, I disconnected the "security circuit" at both ends, and also
discovered that the nylon washer /capacitor/ground/ points post in the dist.
Were assembled in the wrong order.  Upon fixing this, the car fired right up.

Today, it fired right up, warmed up  to operating temp, and within 1 minute of
running, conked out and will not restart.

Any ideas?

Jonas Payne
PBR
Cell:   (702) 358-5084
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From: "Harlan Polk" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 15:39:50 -0700

Jonas,
Sounds like a heat soak related open or short circuit. In swapping the coil
and condenser, you arrested the key suspects. I would bet even after the
swap, the condenser is shorting when hot. Other possibilities are a carbon
track in the distributor cap from center contact to one spark plug or to the
distributor housing, or a breakdown of the coil to distribution high tension
wire insulation, or an open in the coil low voltage wire or ground. I
suggest first moving this wire so it has different near touching or
grounding points, exchanging it end to end would do this. Next would be a
careful inspection of the distributor cap. Then running a parallel patch
wire from ignition hot to the coil. After that I join you in confusion. A
graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College share with me one
of their teachings "If you are not confused, you do not understand the
situation." Perhaps we "understand" it together.
Hap

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked] [mailto:[email-masked]]
On Behalf Of Jonas Payne
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 1:07 PM
To: [email-masked]'
Subject: [Healeys] Ignition Problem BJ8

For the past 2 weeks, my car has been starting just fine, and can run at
idle indefinitely, but within minutes of taking off for a drive, conks out
and will not restart - no spark.  Initially, after a few minutes, the car
would restart and run for about 30 to 40 seconds before conking out again.

Finally it would not start at all.  At that point, I swapped out the coil
and condenser with one from an operating car and it still wouldn't start.

Over the weekend, I disconnected the "security circuit" at both ends, and
also discovered that the nylon washer /capacitor/ground/ points post in the
dist.
Were assembled in the wrong order.  Upon fixing this, the car fired right
up.

Today, it fired right up, warmed up  to operating temp, and within 1 minute
of running, conked out and will not restart.

Any ideas?

Jonas Payne
PBR
Cell:   (702) 358-5084
$12.75

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From: John Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 07:30:50 +0800

Jonas

What happened before the last 2 weeks?

Has anything been worked on or changed just before then?

cheers
John Rowe
Perth

On 15/05/2012 4:06 AM, Jonas Payne wrote:
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From: Alan Seigrist <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 08:11:30 +0800

Jonas -

I used to have a similar problem with my BJ8.  I eventually solved the
problem by chasing down the white wire from the coil, to the
tachometer, to the ignition switch and making sure that wire had clean
firm connections all the way from the ignition switch to the coil.  I
later determined that corrosion on the Lucar terminals, and the part
where the wire went into the Lucar female (on the harness) had
corrosion on it to where when the wire heated up, the resistance would
increase and I would start losing spark.  Of course I would get some
warning with a sputtering ignition for a bit until it would conk out.
This little white wire gets more current than any other wire in the
harness and should have very good connections for your ignition to
work properly.

Also try swapping your cap and rotor.  A final thing to check is if
you are using modern suppressed ignition wires with your lucas
distributor, this could also be a problem.  You should only use solid
core wire with a lucas distributor.  Modern suppressed wires can lose
their ability to conduct electricity when stuck in an old vibrating
lucas distributor.

Hope that helps.

Alan

> For the past 2 weeks, my car has been starting just fine, and can run at
idle
> Finally it would not start at all.  At that point, I swapped out the coil
and
> Over the weekend, I disconnected the "security circuit" at both ends, and
also
up.
> Today, it fired right up, warmed up  to operating temp, and within 1 minute
of
> running, conked out and will not restart.
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---

From: Jonas Payne <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2012 15:03:20 +0000

Ignition problem resolved - the incorrect installation order of the capacitor
and ground lead in relation to the nylon bush on the points post was causing
the coil to arc out across its terminals.

This problem was fixed over the weekend and a re-charge on the battery
yesterday resolved the start issue but didn't resolve the conking out issue.

Another stall out yesterday that was immediately rectified by pulling the
choke out on a hot engine (thus indicating that the fuel level in the bowls
was low) indicated a fuel delivery problem, which was confirmed when I got
home in emails from several listers (thanks!!!).  Pulled the line on the lead
carb and turned on the ignition, and the fuel pump is only providing a
trickle, and nowhere near enough to run the car at anything other than idle.

The fuel pump is new, the tank is new and all the lines are new.  The pump
sound and reaction at the front would appear to indicate a blockage on the
"force end" of the system as opposed to the suction end the pump, but I plan
on pulling the lines and determining that tonight.

Jonas Payne
PBR
Cell:   (702) 358-5084

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From: Chris Dimmock <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 09:08:52 +1000

Hey Jonas,
Good to hear you've narrowed it down. Although its a new tank, check that the
tank pickup isn't blocked.
Is it an SU pump?
Couple of issues here. There are SU  suck pumps, and SU push pumps. Suck pumps
are meant to be mounted in the engine bay. If you put a SU suck pump near the
tank, you'll only get a dribble at the carbs.
Check the model number if the pump you've got.
Second possibility is its a low rated Su pump, e.g off a mini or sprite. These
pumps deliver about half the volume of fuel a BJ8 spec pump delivers.
Other option is a blocked filter, or a kink in the fuel line (look around the
front crossmember where the fuel line makes 90 degree turns); or a perforated
diaphragm in the new pump.
Good luck!
Best
Chris

Sent from my iPhone

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