Car keeps cutting out. WTF!

[4hammers]

Hi All.
Well, I am at the point of setting fire to my beloved wagon. The story thus far:

The car drives nicely, then all of a sudden, the motor will stall, the "GEN" light comes on & if I am not fast enough, the car does an almighty backfire when it re-fires. It just seems to turn itself off, then, because the car is still rolling along, it jumps start itself. This causes a friggging great backfire, as it is still sucking juice while rolling. The muffler has now split & doesn't help to cool sound of the car.

I have checked fuel, rebuilt carby, rebuilt dizzy, re-built Fuel pump, bought new leads, coil, dizzy cap & replaced the black box thing on the side (Is that what you call a regulator?) from a running perfect FC. I have also put 3 different Generators on, but it makes no difference.

Could it be the head? Like the valves rooted or something. I don't really now what happens when thaat occurs.

Can someone think what it could be? It is driving my bloody crazy

DAMN hard to look cool when the car backfires, I jump, then it pig-roots of the line :-/

Rob J

[ACE]

Hi Rob,
Here's my guess... Faulty Ignition Switch
If it's not that recheck electrical system including pigtail wire in the dizzy.
Regards ACE  

[craiga]

Rob,

Did you try a replacement condensor?

Its the capacitor that sits on the -ve side of the coil with the points and is designed to dissipate the remaining energy in the coil after firing occurs. These can short intermittantly and cause strange problems like you are experiencing. It really does sound electrical though, rather than mechanical.

Cheers,

Craig.

[4hammers]

Thanks, Guys.

Ace,
I pulled the dash off to have a look, but do you know how many dusty wires are back there?   I will rummage around & see if I have a NOS replacement before I start pulling stuff off. Also, do you put something small in that little hole on the front of the switch to get that cover off? I undid the surround, but haven't actually pulled that bit off.


Craig,
Is there meant to be a little tube thing with a wire coming out of it (Condensor) on the COIL? There is one on the DIZZY, that I replaced. It is a NOS one & I am assuming it works fine. I put a new coil on, but I don't think there is a condensor there. Maybe that is the problem.


I will give them both a go.

Rob J

[graham_fuller]

hi Rob the condenser on the coil is simply for radio interference,
so I woundn't worry to much about that.Hope you sort out the problem.
Cheers,
Graham

[craiga]

Rob,

Graham is spot on, the capacitor connected to the +ve side of the coil to minimise radio interference. You can remove it to check if its your problem.

You can use a paper clip or similar and insert it in the hole in the front of the ignition switch assembly, then turn the lock with the key and the centre will come out from the switch.

Before you pull it out though you can just run a wire straight from the +ve of the battery to the +ve side of the coil. Start the car as normal and see if it plays up. This will prove the switch.

Cheers,

Craig.

[Martin]

Hey Rob, maybe I'm stating the obvious, but have you thoroughly cleaned your battery terminals?

[fcee]

 by pass the ignition switch with a jumper and give it a run ,my car had exactly the same problem and it proved to be a burn mark on the run position in the ignition switch ,took the switch apart and cleaned the contact and now she runs like a new one .Steve.

[4hammers]

Right!
Gave it a go, bypassing the switch & the car ran beautifully. Didn't miss a beat. I traced the wire that hooks up to + on the coil & bugger me, if it hadn't been cut at some stage, then just twisted back together. I re-joined that with a new piece & soldered it up. But the car still missed when I fired it up. Sooooooooo, it is definately the switch. I have a NOS one here that I aam about to install. I will let you know how it goes.


OK. 30 minutes later. All good! New switch went in really easy, no fires or anything bad. Switched it on (Sooooooooo smooth) & I am away. Car ran even better than before. I suspect it has been faulty for a time & now that it is all new, it has a really good contact. Yeahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Thanks for the help guys.

Rob J

[RET]

Good news, see you at Phillip Island then

[4hammers]

You never know, RET.  

Ace may be there & he can pick it up

Rob J