Series IIA Engine Woes

[fbnksrover]

I found a couple of coils locally, but not sure if they are compatible. Any recommendations on Proline versus Lucas versus something from local big box? I need to pick p a multimeter too.

[busboy]

I'm sure everyone will not agree but to me a 12 volt coil is a 12 volt coil. On the multimeter.. digital or analogue??? they both have their uses but a digital meter might not find an intermittent problem as it "samples" where an analogue reads real time. I have both kinds in the shop but the one I use the most and carry with me is an analogue one.

[I Leak Oil]

Busboy is right...not everyone will agree that a coil is a coil.

The coil needs to have the right internal resistance or you can burn up points very quickly. That's not a rover thing, it's a general automotive points ignition system thing. Look on line as to how a points ignition system works and you will probably find all the reasons to go with it.
The last coil I bought was from NAPA probably 18 years ago. You probably won't notice any difference between the Lucas and Proline units.

[Dietersrover]

just my 2 cents

You have a lot of great advice here, But I would double check ignition coil and the wire going to it. And a coil is not a coil. 12 volts yes, ohms No. You need a 3 ohm coil.

[SafeAirOne]

Disregard this un-delete-able post.

[fbnksrover]

Okay. Lots of great advice. Here's what I have done:

Replaced and gapped the spark plugs.
Replaced the condenser.
Replaced the ignition coil (found one locally). Checked the reading on the old one and it was about 2-2.5 ohms. Assumed that was low?
Replaced the contact points and gapped them (.15).

I fired the little guy up and nothin. Not a click or a tick from the engine. I checked the battery. The lights are strong, so the battery seems good. Not sure what to check now. Distributor? Alternator? Plug wires?

[SafeAirOne]

Clean battery terminals and clean the other end of the battery ground wire along with the grounding surface that it's attached to. Same for the starter-to-engine grounding strap and the engine-to-chassis grounding strap.

[busboy]

Busboy is right...not everyone will agree that a coil is a coil.

LOL. I meant between brands or makes of coil which was what I thought he was asking, I missed the bit "I'm not sure they are compatible" I know some people have preferences as to what brand they buy.

If you mean it won't crank over now I am beginning to think it may be the ignition switch, and to begin with it was dropping the power in the run position. You can check to see if the turn signals work with the key in the run position. I may be off base and the starter solenoid contacts have just failed because of all the cranking you have done, coincidence?

Did you ever remove a plug and connect the lead then crank the engine with the plug touching ground to see if you were getting a spark? Have you tried squirting a little gas or starting fluid directly into the intake with the hose removed, this will rule out a fuel problem. Like I mentioned earlier I once had a fuel pump that came and went as it pleased.

I just noticed the very next thread is about a bad ignition switch just his wouldn't shut down.

[fbnksrover]

I ordered some new leads from our sponsors just in case. The old ones looked, well, old. When the new leads come in, I'll check for the spark. I'll try some gas in the intake in a few days. I'm still paranoid about the location of number 1 on the distributor cap. I aligned the timing tick mark with the pulley with the manual crankshaft. What I can't figure out is this: There is a brass fitting on the top of my rotor arm with an arrow that points counterclockwise. Is the location of the number 1 where that arrow points or is the location of the number one where the straight portion of the brass top is pointing? I attached a picture to see if anyone can point that out to me, if this makes sense.

Although not clear, the arrow is pointing towards the red writing.

[SafeAirOne]

I don't have a distributor on my engine, so I have nothing to compare it to, but something looks odd about the orientation of your distributor and especially the rotor if it is shown pointing to #1 TDC on the compression stroke. IIRC, most of the distributors I've seen have the supply line to the vacuum advance pointing directly aft and the lead to the primary circuit entering the distributor housing directly between the distributor and engine block.

For example:







I'm sure that a dozen other people who burn gasoline can confirm/refute this or determine whether it's relevant/related or not.

Is the vacuum line at the advance mechanism kinked? Hard to tell by the pic, but in that orientation, I imagine it'd have to be...

OH...and I believe that the arrow just indicates direction of rotation, so the leading edge (where your red writing is) should be the first part of the rotor to go past the terminals on the underside of the distributor cap.

[I Leak Oil]

Disregard this un-delete-able post.

You're too smart for this conversation anyway.....

[busboy]

TDC occurs in two spots, the compression stroke and the exhaust stroke, I mentioned earlier that it must be TDC on the compression stroke. THIS is where the #1 plug lead should go where the rotor is at that point. To determine TDC on the compression stroke remove the #1 plug and place your thumb or finger over the hole while bringing the engine to TDC, you will feel the pressure releasing. It is possible to install the distributor 180 deg out and from your picture that is what is wrong.

[tkneese]

You're really close to getting her running just right. The timing sounds a little retarded to me in the video and the pop may be coming from the leads being switched or a faulty lead.

The dist. rotor arm should be pointing to the lead for cylinder 1 at TDC (not the arrow but the middle of the brass fitting should be in line with the contact for cyl 1). If you manually set the timing by rotating the engine and lining the marks up on the engine, make sure the rotor is pointing at the lead for the #1 cylinder (theres a 50% chance that its pointing at #1) before rotating the distributor and setting the timing. On my distributor cylinder 1 lead is at about 2 o'clock (standing on the passenger side). The wires go 1-2-4-3 clockwise around the distributor. Hope this helps, i've gotta go back to troubleshooting my starter, fingers crossed its only a bad electrical connection. I like the nickname for yours... i'm about to call mine "big dump" if things don't start going better soon

[fbnksrover]

I see what you're saying about the distributor orientation based on the two pix. The vic came this way when purchased. Is it something that I need to take off and realign?

[busboy]

While you can position the #1 plug lead almost anywhere by juggling the leads around and rotating the distributor, my concern and that I suspect of Safeairone is that the vacuum advance might be pinched off. It might also be that because the vacuum advance is contacting the engine it might not be possible to time the engine correctly because of not being able to rotate the distributor enough.