Studder/stall after driving

[Tim Smith]

Thanks Mark. I did look through the forum for the other related threads but your link is probably the best description I've seen yet.

[Tim Smith]

So I thought for sure it was going to be the condensor. I swapped in an old one and thought it was all fixed up. About half way through the road trip I had to pull off the highway and there was the issue again. Dang!

When I had a chance, I pulled over and took a look. As I was under the hood fiddling with the wires, I put my hand on the trigger wire that goes between the distributor and the coil. Interestingly enough, I got a jolt as if I had just grabbed a high tension lead. Hmm, that ain't right.

I pushed on through the rest of the trip as it was raining and I didn't feel like getting soaked in the dark, on the side of the road. Next morning I dropped in an old coil I had brought along and all is well again.

It was the coil!

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts on this one. Sometimes with a rover, it takes a village.

[SafeAirOne]

I pushed on through the rest of the trip as it was raining and I didn't feel like getting soaked in the dark, on the side of the road. Next morning I dropped in an old coil I had brought along and all is well again.

It was the coil!

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts on this one. Sometimes with a rover, it takes a village.

Hmm...Did you change all the igntion wires lately? I'm not sure how a faulty coil will transmit high voltage down the exterior of a good ignition wire, but if that fixes it, then OK!

Often, however, the high-voltage ignition wire insulation will break down with time (or a wire will be damaged) and will work perfectly until the air becomes damp or it rains or you run through a big puddle, then will begin to leak, causing the engine to run poorly. You can sometimes detect this while looking under the bonnet after dark and see some arcing on the wires.

EDIT: Maybe I misunderstood--When you say "Trigger wire" is that the thin primary that goes from the coil to the points? If so, you're right-this could be a coil issue, as there should only be 12v there and shouldn't give too much of a jolt, (unless you used your tongue to grab it).

The "spray bottle full of water at night" troubleshooting method works good for this type of issue.

[Tim Smith]

Thanks Mark but it wasn't the high tension leads that gave me the jolt but the low voltage wire connecting the coil to the points. I think something went foobar inside the coil which was making it happen.

The fact that it was raining probably had nothing to do with this particular case because I'd been experiencing this issue in the dry as well.

[SafeAirOne]

Thanks Mark but it wasn't the high tension leads that gave me the jolt but the low voltage wire connecting the coil to the points. I think something went foobar inside the coil which was making it happen.

The fact that it was raining probably had nothing to do with this particular case because I'd been experiencing this issue in the dry as well.

Yep--I tried to edit my post when I re-read "trigger wire" in you description. The thin primary wire shouldn't be giving you any jolt, unless you're grabbing it with your tongue.

[Donnie]

The function of the condensor is to briefly give the electricity someplace to go when the points open. If the condensor wasn't there "absorbing" the electricity when the points opened (or was defective), the electricity would just spark across the points even though they were open. This arcing would have the same effect as the points staying closed. That is to say that the magnetic field around the primary winding in the coil would never collapse and energize the secondary winding, which drives the spark plugs. End result: the engine won't run, or won't run properly.


Condensors are cheap. It couldn't hurt to replace it. After that, What's left? The ignition switch, the power wires to the ignition switch, the wire to the coil, the coil, the primary wire to the points, and the points ground.

EDIT: A fairly decent description of the ignition system component functions can be found here.

If the hi tension tower on the coil has a carbon track or a tiny crack, secondary voltage can transverse into the primary wire and cause you problems, altho U said that the points were ok, that U sanded them, A point file is a bit more sanitary in cleaning points. I.E., no alum oxide or silicon carbide to get in the program. NOT nit picking your procedure, just a bit of trivia.....................Nader

[Donnie]

Thanks Mark but it wasn't the high tension leads that gave me the jolt but the low voltage wire connecting the coil to the points. I think something went foobar inside the coil which was making it happen.

The fact that it was raining probably had nothing to do with this particular case because I'd been experiencing this issue in the dry as well.

More useless trivia: if your points are turning blue, your resistance is faulty, points should be grey..........if your points are transferring metal from one contact to the other suspect a faulty condensor