Series 11A Dying

[Ncrover725]

Over the past week I have had problems with my Rover (1971, IIa, 109, 2.25 petrol) just dying while driving down the road. It does not happen during any certain rpm range, climactic factors, speed, gear, ect... The majority of the time I can re start it (push button) while coasting. When it does die I appear to loose all electrical power. If it dies while I'm not coasting I let it sit for a minute, I gain back power, and away I go. The dying is not a chugging / starving for fuel feeling scenario. It just quits! I looked for loose wiring / grounds. Any ideas on where I should focus my efforts?

[SafeAirOne]

Do your charge and oil pressure lamps illuminate when it dies?

Does ALL the electrical stuff (lights/wipers/horn, etc.) shut off when the car dies?

It sounds as if you may be losing power to the white wire feeding the + side of the coil, or the coil is otherwise saying "no thank you" for whatever cause, therefore, killing the engine.

If you lose ALL electrical power when this happens, I'd suspect a bad connector on the brown wire coming off the starter. This wire feeds the whole electrical system. I've had this happen to me before. The only way I found out is that it was dark out and I saw a bit of arcing at the connector attached to the starter post.

If it was just the engine turning off and all the other stuff is normal, I'd start with the ignition switch as a very possible culprit, especially if it'll start right up immediately thereafter. Had this happen to me also. Very annoying.

[Ncrover725]

Power

To be honest I have never had this happen at night so headlight going off I cannot tell you. I can tell you if it shuts off as I come to a stop I have no dash lights even when I turn the key. I normally have my cold start light that comes on. A few weeks ago I did snap my key off in the 6 way switch. I just start it now with the back half of the key or a flat head screwdriver. I will venture to say I lose all power when it stalls. I have always been in crisis action mode and not investigative when this happens since it's normally in the middle of a crazy intersection or a highway. Next time I will try all the electrics once it shuts off.

[xsbowes]

I had this exact same thing happen to me in Hawaii. It ended up being the starter. The insulation on one of the leads inside was deteriorated and it would ground out on the inside of the case. I turned the terminal with a wrench and it would stop touching for awhile. I finally put a new starter in. Hasn't happened since. Took the old starter and had new shrink wrap put on the lead. So now I have a spare.

[BackInA88]

I had the same problem as well.
Turned out I just needed to clean up the fuse clips that hold the ends of the fuses of some very light corrosion.
No problems since.


Steve

[siii8873]

if this happens when the truck warms, runs a while after it cools off, is a symptom of a bad coil. All your coil / ignition circuit goes through the 6 way switch, could be that also. check that the white wire on the coil is hot when you have the problem. this would check the switch or a connection problem.

[Firemanshort]

I had this on a Series III and it finally went away when I replaced my ignition switch. I was losing power to the coil. I had random cut-offs that would fix themselves for months before I figured it out.

So all of the things in the second post should be checked.

[wrighthm]

I've replaced my plug wires, ignition switch, coil, distributor ( electronic ignition back to points at dizzy switch ) and after that I basically rewired my truck when I found my fuses were a little loose in some of the fuse clips. That seemed to fix my problem for several months as it got deeper into winter. As the weather got warmer the problem came back. I keep all of my old parts that get taken off my truck for spares. I put my old coil back on the truck after taking the brand new genuine land rover coil off, that I bought from our host. When I bought my truck I wanted new parts to ensure reliability, so the first new item was a coil. I never thought my new parts would have been the problem (right?!) so I kept buying new parts focussing on the ignition.

I learned to not fix what isn't broken and that new isn't always better, which is why I bought a series in the first place...

[LR Max]

Sounds like a dying coil to me.

[Jim-ME]

Call the PO and talk to him. He knows what has been done and what hasn't. Greg is a great guy and I'm sure he will try his best to help you out. It might save you some aggravation and $ chasing stuff that doesn't need to be fixed.
Jim

[Ncrover725]

Power

It happened again today and I did lose all electrical power. I now have a better idea where to start looking.

Jim: I talk to Greg quite often and feel bad about all the questions. I do plan on asking him though the next time we talk. He is a great guy and I am thankful to have him as a PO.

[Ncrover725]

6 way switch

It happened again today while out to lunch so I had a little more time to play. I pulled out my 6 way switch and found a lose connection. I tightened that up and it has done well with no shutting off. I guess I tightened it so tight my rear diff is now leaking!!! Lol

[tmckeon88]

Also check to see that the battery ground strap is tightly fastened and has a clean connection. That stopped me dead a couple of years ago and I ended up having a tow when I could have just tightened it myself.

Tom