2500S engine reluctant to start and barely runs.

[Forkie]

Sorry - typical example of rushing the text - just noted you have tried leads and cap. But were they new, or from a working engine... bare in mind some 'new' parts are not really up to scratch. Fuel vaporisation somehow? I assume running HS 6's - float bowls clean, oil in dashpots?

[poppyman]

It was doing it before with the old set up, but as the ballast is in the loom we took an ignition like direct from the fusebox and i still have the problem. Starting from cold is no problem and will run great for 6or7 miles then starts misfiring and the comes to halt and won't start. Leave it approx 45mins then it will run the same miles. Tried with and without fuel cap, no rust in tank. The spark just goes extremely weak.

[poppyman]

Not fuel vapour problem, have had that with my Dolomite.

[Mike Stevens]

Faulty coil when getting hot?

[Forkie]

He states he has already swapped over and does the same. Cannnot really be much else, a breakdown in the wiring somewhere?

[poppyman]

I will start bypassing all the engine electrics one by one this weekend and see what happens. I will keep you chaps posted unless anyone has had the same problem before.

Tony.

[Forkie]

Valencia - what was causing your high resistance out of interest?

[Charles H]

I would start at the coil. Is it the correct one? 6v or 12v depending whether you are using the ballast circuit or not. Have had this before when someone fitted a 12v coil on a ballast circuit. Car would go fine for about 10 miles, then start spluttering and finally stop.

[Alec]

Hello Tony,

do you have a multimeter, it's very useful, and will save a lot of work by passing wiring as guess work?
If you are not familiar with using one, when doing voltage checks ensure the circuit is complete otherwise you will get a misleading reading, generally battery voltage. E.g. measuring the voltage of a coil input when the points are open will always give battery voltage, even on a ballast system.

Alec

[poppyman]

Thanks Charles and Alec, i don't know how to use a multi meter.... but luckily i have a pal that does He is coming over Sunday and will go through it. In the mean time i am removing/cleaning any suspect terminals/battery/earths ect to save any time. One good thing is, is that it happens every time and is not intermitant so it will happen on the drive as well as on the road.

Tony.