The urge has overwhelmed me, and I'm back on line with the Alpine group
(though I have not re-subscribed to the Tiger/British/911 groups)!
I recently had a problem with my Alpine that I just finally solved after
going through many dead ends. Every so often, the car would be very hard
to start. It would turn over and over and nothing would ignite. I was
certain it was a question of the spark not being strong enough. At first,
I thought it was dirty spark plugs from the Webers and not keeping it at
high rpm all the time. Usually, after changing the plugs the problem would
go away for months. Then changing the plugs only lasted a few days. I
ended up getting it started after someone helped me jump it - even though
the starter was turning with my battery. I then suspected that the battery
was holding some charge, but not enough to spin the engine fast enough.
Nope, new battery helped for the first time, but same problem for the
second time. New coil and wires didn't help either. Then jump starting
wouldn't help either. All that was left in my spark circuit was the
Lumination electronic points. I followed their testing suggestions, and it
seemed to be ok. Rick has a version that uses magnets and fits inside of
the distributor. I was tempted to use it, but the coil, wires and battery
(with exchange) were cheap (and now I have extras, anyone want a new Bosch
blue coil for $20?). In thinking about it some more, I began to suspect
the ground wire to the Lumination - which would explain a weak spark, and
why some slight improvements in the ignition circuit would temporarily
help. Sure enough, that was it. User error - I installed that ground.
Rest assured, the ground to the Lumination unit is now the best ground on
the car! (Well, the tail lights are pretty damn good too).
So, the moral, if all else fails, check the ground - even the ones that are
not 30 years old.
Aaah. It feels good to be back.
Jay Laifman
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:50:01 CDT