Electrical Breakdown

[abbirkin]

In 30+ years of ownership my S type car has never failed to start, even after months of being laid up in a garage with no power. I have however used a solar charger over the past few years and the starter is quite lively even after this period. I don’t think the solar panel actually charges but stops the battery discharging.

Anyway, this Spring, for the first time, the car would not fire. The points were not very old but in desperation I put a new set on. These were new old stock I bought on eBay still in the original Lucas box.. At some point I must have also put on a new rotor cap. So the car was started, but over the last 6 months it has hesitated from low revs under stress and generally has felt unresponsive.

Last week, in heavy traffic, the car made a loud popping bang under the bonnet and immediately cut out. Very embarrassing holding up the traffic! A kind knowledgeable motor cyclist stopped and somehow found a spark and the engine started but as he drove off the engine died again .....

Fortunately being not far from home, I phoned my son in law who came out quickly and towed me to a lay-by. I knew my problems had started when I put on the new points and rotor arm, so as a last resort I put the old (original) rotor arm back on and bingo, she fired up and I drove home. The rotor arm was a red one and suspect it was made In China or somewhere and was the root of all the problems; so if your car suddenly dies, try the rotor arm first!

I thought I’d better check all the electrics, so cleaned the plugs as well. For some reason I also unscrewed the terminal from the coil entering the centre of the distributor. I was quite shocked at the corrosion in there. It’s a wonder I got a spark at all. Another suggestion to check!

The car now runs as smooth as it has done and starts immediately on the button. Hope the above may be useful if ever your car won’t start.

[cass3958]

Thanks Barrie. Every little bit helps when you are stuck at the side of the road.
I changed my points over to an electrical module system with a new distributor a couple of years ago and a mechanic friend of mine told me it was a bad move. "If you lose spark" he said "you can get it back again by cleaning the points at the side of the road that is good but if your module goes down you are stuck". I thought this was garbage sense as anything could break down really and to have spares of every component in the boot is also pointless. Best just keep your membership to the AA or RAC up to date and sort it out when you get home.

Also buy decent spares not cheap Chinese knock offs. Not your fault!
Watching Fake Britain the other day and they were talking about fake car parts being sold as genuine Lucas or Bosch parts. Spark plugs off Ebay cannot be trusted anymore. Look like the real thing in the correct box but are Chinese fakes and are crap. All sorts of fakes from distributors to injectors. More expensive but better to go to SNG or David Manners then you get what you pay for and have a come back if anything does not work.

[Glyn Ruck]

There are a lot of rubbish rotors out there. Some of them literally fall apart. Caveat Emptor. We know the source ~

[John Quilter]

The commonly available (at least in the USA) black distributor rotors are suspect. They have a rivet that over time shorts out to the internal clip that holds it onto the shaft. Car will immediately die when this happens. Many forums have discussed this issue. There are now good quality red rotors that eliminate this problem. Moss and Distributor Doctor sell them. Well worth fitting.

[abbirkin]

Oops! Just replaced the rotor arm with a black one! Better put the original one back on.....
Thought about electronic points but with various comments about failure, I’ve not found any with excellent recommendations. Think I’ll stick to the original system since I barely do 1000 miles a year.

[NigelW]

If you want to get the best rotor arms etc. buy from http://www.distributordoctor.com I've not had a problem with anything from them.

[jonesdl]

Noted a really good tip.
Cheers
Dave J.