8 replies to this topic

[MG22]

Hi, I'm having a problem with my L reg Cooper 1.3. I have been driving on the motorway in wet weather and it's running well. I come off the motorway and stop at the lights for the roundabout. When I pull off in 1st gear the car won't move! I have to restart the engine and rev it pretty heavily for it to move and it's fine after that. Any ideas what this could be? Thanks!

[alexcrosse]

mmmm weird one, what colour are your plugs? and is it firing on all cylinders. Its prob just your dizzy getting a little bit wet, loosing a cylinder, and having no torque to pull away. So you have to rev it to get it running on all 4 cylinders and use the power to pull off.

If you havnt got a rain guard on there put one on. If you have, cover the your dizzy in alot of WD40 (which was originally developed for that use)

[Jammy]

Moved to Injection.

[MG22]

mmmm weird one, what colour are your plugs? and is it firing on all cylinders. Its prob just your dizzy getting a little bit wet, loosing a cylinder, and having no torque to pull away. So you have to rev it to get it running on all 4 cylinders and use the power to pull off.

If you havnt got a rain guard on there put one on. If you have, cover the your dizzy in alot of WD40 (which was originally developed for that use)

(Sorry about the delay in replying, I had to wait for my lunch hour to go out and check it!). I've only had the car for a few months but it looks like the leads are very new (blue silicon). I changed the spark plugs recently and haven't had a problem up until the wet weather. There's no rain gueard on the dizzy- is there a 'quick fix' cover I can put on for my journey home? I'm planning on taking it off to check for dampness/ leaks etc when I get home. Is it still worth spraying it with WD40?

[Jammy]

How does it 'not move'? Is it that it struggles to move, but moves a bit, shudders when you try to pull away, or physically doesn't do anything?

[MG22]

How does it 'not move'? Is it that it struggles to move, but moves a bit, shudders when you try to pull away, or physically doesn't do anything?

Pretty much the former- shuddering when I try to pull away after moving a bit.

[BoboGib]

There's no rain gueard on the dizzy- is there a 'quick fix' cover I can put on for my journey home?

A marigold glove works well, put small holes in the top of the fingers and push your leads through ( do this one by one so you can get them back on the dizzy cap in the correct place) the puch the glove over the cap, should be a nice snugg fit.

Hope this helps you out.

[MG22]

There's no rain gueard on the dizzy- is there a 'quick fix' cover I can put on for my journey home?

A marigold glove works well, put small holes in the top of the fingers and push your leads through ( do this one by one so you can get them back on the dizzy cap in the correct place) the puch the glove over the cap, should be a nice snugg fit.

Hope this helps you out.

Thanks! I'll give that a go.

[Sprocket]

Yes, its just the water getting into the ignition electrics.

Fit some new leads and get yourself a rain gaurd, its a must!!!

I broke down many years ago with this problem and had to call out the RAC, the battery was at the end of its life and the excessive trying to get it started, killed it.


Another piece of advice, always cary one of those pocket sized cans of WD40, it will get you out of a pickle in a hurry