Irritating Ignition Failure

[sweller]

I finally fitted the correct new distributor cap this morning - to be
fair, I did order the wrong one initially (I needed push-in rather than
the original screw-in) and SNG Barratt supplied what I had ordered but
they swapped it no bother; work commitments then allowed (in that I
didn't have to turn up for work) so I could fit the final piece of the
jigsaw.

...and it started and runs quite happily.

It was reluctant to restart on the first attempt after shutting it down
but I suspect it was between 'choke' in that it was warm but not hot.
It's been fine so far since.

So, thanks for the collective mind.

[peterdpps]

Glad it has been cured. Hope its a permanent fix.

[sweller]

Glad it has been cured. Hope its a permanent fix.

I have a very nasty feeling it is not.

It was very reluctant to start twice further - once to the extent I didn't want to shut it down until I'd got it back to its lockup.

I will try to restart it in the morning and we shall see...

[peterdpps]

Good luck.
Humour me, try the condenser! Might be breaking down.

[sweller]

Good luck.
Humour me, try the condenser! Might be breaking down.

That will make four.

[oldtimer]

Hi Simon,
Pleased you have it running , I was getting a bit worried for you.
Kindly explain, you say it is a bit reluctant to start, but does it run OK once it has fired up, ya we know it might be a bit lumpy initially while on choke and all this wet weather.

Is the original electric choke still fitted and do you have a manual override switch? you know, to by pass the thermostatic switch.

As you know the starter motor takes an outrageous amount of energy. Battery voltage drops and not much left for the coil.

Two things spring to mind, you have been doing a lot of cranking of a dead engine, Have you had the chance to re-charge the Battery? And secondly when was the engine to chassis earth lead last cleaned ?

Of course, a good thrash around the block wouldn't go amiss, blow out some of the crud !

Oldtimer

PS Have you examined the old Dizzy Cap yet?

[sweller]

The reluctance to start was difficult to work out as it had all new consumable ignition components (plugs, points, condenser, coil, rotor and cap), the dwell and timing were spot on. The battery is fairly new, over-size, fully-charged and spins the engine at a good speed (fastest it ever has!) so what could be the problem?

I had noticed that when it started it tended to as I took my finger off the starter (Aha!). I knew I had a bit of a voltage drop between the battery and the coil. I also knew that I'd had problems with the ignition (key) switch getting hot in the past.

There was evidence it had been getting hot since I last cleaned it up and there was a loose rivet on the live side.

It looked as if there was too much resistance through the key switch, more when the start button was pressed.

I simply fitted a £2 relay worked by the key switch to do the heavy current duties and take the load off the nearly 50 year old key switch and it seems to start more happily with much, much less cranking (two seconds worth, before was a good five plus).

So far it has been fine......

.....but we shall see.

[oldtimer]

Hi Simon,
Well done, you seem to have finally cracked it. I'm so pleased that you focused on the ignition and stayed with it. On occasions we hear of people taking a scatter gun approach attacking several different bits and not achieve any clear answers.

I notice that this thread has had a hundred plus hits so I hope that some folks have benefitted from your regrettable break down ( I mean the car of course)

Do give us an update in about a month or so

Regards
Oldtimer

[oldtimer]

Hi Simon,
I have just re-read this thread. Quite amusing after the event to think that whilst driving along minding your own business that a defective ignition switch could just decide to stop you dead.

A month has passed since that catastrophe was overcome , please give us an update to confirm now all is running well.

Regards Oldtimer

PS Bet you don't get caught out on that one again.

[sweller]

Not all that simple, unfortunately.

The car became increasingly difficult to start, again with a weak spark until it got to the point I became so frustrated with it I replaced the points with an electronic Hall effect unit coupled to a Lucas Sport coil.

It's been utterly reliable since then. Managing a combination of regular daily use and being left for a couple of weeks.

Still not 100% sure why it was being such a pain but it now has a big blue spark....

[Martec]

Hi I recently started having starting problems, it sounded like a flat battery.......that clicking noise, then I would spin over rapidly and start.

I found the battery earth lead to bulkhead contact was corroded, cleaned up and working fine again................so far.

Taking paint off now to remove some corrosion under the paint, just done the roof!!!!

Brian

[J44EAG]

I`ve been watching this topic with some interest having been involved with an E-type.

That car also had key start issues and a series of resistance/corrosion hot spots. Bad grounding contacts proliferated. Once cleaned up, the whole car changed character for the better.

It sounds as if perhaps you have experienced similar issues.

I recall grounding issues with an old cross flow Cortina. That was a well known distributor earth strap connection problem.

Age takes its toll on electrical switch gear and cables. We have had similar issues with modern S-types particularly with bad cable looms. Every model seems to have an Achilles heal regardless of age.

Glad you have a successful conclusion, Simon.

Mike