Sudden intermittent power loss in a Series IIA

[tmckeon88]

Hi everyone-

I'm outsourcing my woes to the Rover community at large. I have a 1969 IIA 88" with the usual 2.25L petrol engine. This morning out of the bue on the way to work I experienced some intermittent power loss- the truck would hitch and hiccup and at one point stalled altogether and would not restart. After a few moments I was able to start it (not enough time for it to cool) and I got to work. I'm wondering if this could be an electrical problem- coil going bad? It starts, runs and idles smoothly when it's working. No loss of power except for these hiccups. The radio will blink off and it seems like something is up electrically. (I had a carb problem last spring but eventually cleaned all the jets and channels in my Weber and took care of that.) Tune up last April and new fuel filter. Doesn't seem starved for fuel. I'll check the gas cap for vapor lock but I have already drilled little holes in that to counteract that.

Any thoughts would be super helpful.

Tom

[tmckeon88]

I just started it in the parking lot and of course it starts/runs perfectly. Checked connections. I have a tachometer and I seem to recall that when it stalled out, the tach went to 0 even though the engine was still turning from coasting. The tach runs off the coil.

Here's hoping I can get home today!

Tom

[jonnyc]

Radio???
Does the engine stuttering coincide with the breaks in the radio (whatever that is) reception?
Good solid rotor? Good connections around the condenser and points? Good coil and all its attached wiring? Is that radio-thing hooked into your ignition circuit in any way?

[Dietersrover]

I agree with Jonnyc. Check the distributor and points. Clean the rotor also. Take a look at your ignition coil and the plug wires.
Also, take a look at your vacuum advance. If your timing is off, it may idle OK but at higher RPMs may stall.

[SafeAirOne]

If I read the symptoms correctly, the radio flashes off and on, the tach goes to zero and the engine begins running rough and shuts off? If that's the way it happens, I'd begin by investigating why the power supply from the ignition switch to the rest of the vehicle keeps cutting out. It sounds as if it is turning itself off when you're driving, since ALL electrical power to the vehicle seems to be lost simultaneously.

BTW, your tachometer doesn't 'spool down' when you shut off the engine. Ever. It just goes dead instantly (even when you're coasting), so don't read anything into that.

Good luck.