[Bmcu] Distributor points melted (82' Mini)

[adamant at xmission.com]

I would get the old system working before adding an electronic
ignition. The only time I have had points that look like they have
melted was caused by the high tension circuit jumping across to the
low tension. As I saw you had replaced the coil it might be that the
HT does not have a good path to the plugs. If the Ht has to jump
across a greater gap to ground than the spark plug itself, it will.
Also even if the HT has jumped to the LT even just once then the
condenser is shot and will need replacing.
Hope that helps.
Adam.

Quoting Dylan Thurston <dylan.thurston at gmail.com>|

>
> ** Check out http://britishmotorclub.org  **
>
> Ok so i've had a huge series of problems with my mini. It all started with
> replacing my fuel pump, which lead to the ignition coil burning out, the
> starter solenoid and fuse box needed to be resoldered. Most of these things
> were completely unrelated(as far as i can tell) they all just happened at
> the same time. My latest problem was with spark. The distributor wasn't
> working so i replaced the points and condenser. Ran fine for about 30sec
and
> died. So we added a ballast resistor but that prevented it from stating at
> all. When we removed it again it ran for about 30 seconds and died. This
> time however we found that the blue plastic in the points had completely
> melted. My mechanic (who's been doing all of the work) is completely
baffled
> as to what could be causing the points to melt, like this especially in
such
> a short time. My mechanic set the points several times and he assures my
> that there are very few people as experienced/skilled as him with adjusting
> old mech ignition systems. Does anyone here have any idea what might be
> causing something like this. I've gone ahead and ordered an electronic
> ignition conversion kit, new coil, and spark wires from mini mania. I just
> wanted to check to see if anyone might recognize a problem so that i don't
> break something else when doing the conversion.
> -Dylan
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