14 replies to this topic

[fastroadie]

Hi, I have recently fitted a Ignitor kit to my dizzy, had dizzy out and HIF44 carb off, new Facet silver top pump, filter king regulator, and STII Maniflow LCB, connected it all up as instruction told me, also had ballast resistor but fitted a Lucas Gold coil so by passed the ballast so I would get 12V, engine won't kick over, it is hunting but won't start, put HT testers inline and seen the sparks plugs were firing, took each plug out and watched spark, it looks a bit weak.

Got the multimeter out and connected it as per instruction from aldon, positive to neg on coil, negative to ground with the centre dizzy lead, got 12V when ignition turned on but then dropped to a constant 4v when engine cranking, reset ignition turned it on again then had 1v on the multimeter and again 4v when cranking, instruction say might have short circuit on the power transistor (assuming this is why spark weak), but don't where I am looking or how to correct issue.

Is there any whizz's out there that can point in the right direction. Many Thanks

[WiredbyWilson]

you mention you have a 12v feedd to the coil - i trust you are no longer using the ballast wire (if applicable).

if you have spark and fuel it is a timing issue - check you have the leads in the right order and that you haven't got the dizzy drive 180 degrees out when you removed it.

[fastroadie]

Yeah disconnected the ballast wire.

Got leads in right order 1-3-4-2 and took rocker cover off to check number 4 valves were rocking when number 1 at TDC.

So I am pretty confident that the basic timing is right.

I don't know about this power transisitor issue, also gold coil is only reading 2.8ohm, I thought it was meant to be at least 3ohm.

[jn1702]

You say you have positive to neg on coil. I would check that if I were you.

[lrostoke]

Got leads in right order 1-3-4-2 and took rocker cover off to check number 4 valves were rocking when number 1 at TDC.

So I am pretty confident that the basic timing is right.

Did you reset the ignition timing though ?? what you described above is the valve timing which isn't affected by the dizzy.

How I set mine to get it running was set the engine to TDC (No 1cylinder) the one nearest radiator
removed No 1 plug but reattached HT lead.Have plug so its resting on the block
slacken dizzy
turn ignition on
now turn dizzy anticlockwise a few degrees, then turn it clockwise until you see the plug spark, the point where it just sparked, retighten dizzy, then try to start car.
then use a strobe or which ever method you use to dynamically time the ignition


Just to confirm you have the red wire on the Aldon to the positive on coil, the black wire to the negative on the coil.
Then your new 12v ignition feed goes to the positive on the coil !!, thats how it should be anyway

Edited by lrostoke, 24 April 2010 - 10:07 AM.

[fastroadie]

Yeah it is pos to pos and neg to neg, and the ignition ballast feed was disconnected and the straight through connected in its place. The pos to neg and neg to ground was for the multimeter testing.

[fastroadie]

Timed the ignition as Irostoke said, but still no joy, how can I check the HIF44 is working ok, fuel is coming in and the plugs are wet, so fuel must be getting through but don't know if too much or not enough of both air and fuel are getting through, is there a starting point to setup, to get car started and then fine tune from there.

[bmcecosse]

Get rid of the 'Aldon Igniter' and just get it running on points! It won't be the carb - but if in any doubt squirt some fuel into it (or spray in carb cleaner) - and if it was fuel shortage it will run for a few seconds.

[fastroadie]

I thought the Ignitor kit was meant to be all singing and dancing

[lrostoke]

like anything its elimination.

Was the car running before you fitted the ignitor. If so and nothing else as been messed with, then if the ignitor is fitted and setup correctly then it should run.
If it doesn't run then wrong fitting or faulty unit

One point which model of ignitor have you got ?? If its LU144, you need to make sure there is a clearance gap of 25 thou between the module and the centre ring, you have to enlarge one of the mounting holes to do this.

[bmcecosse]

This is precisely why I run my A series on good old points!

[Dan]

I always find it strange when people suggest a spark might not be strong enough. Why do you think the sparks are too weak? Sparks aren't magic, they are just hot and igniting a hot, pressurised fuel vapour and air mix isn't exactly difficult. If the sparks are hot enough to see in daylight, they are probably fine. If you've seen that all four plugs are sparking, I'd suggest you put them back in and forget about them. The problem is elsewhere. You seem to have changed the entire fuel system as well as the ignition so why assume the problem is with the ignition? Plugs shouldn't really be wet, as in dripping wet with fuel, after a little cranking.

[fastroadie]

Yeah, I fitted a 1380 engine on the old mech fuel pump, and twin 1.1/4 carbs but it would only stay running on about 2000rpm, so changed to silver top facet, 8mm copper pipe through out, filter king regulator and then a HIF44 (used) float ok and dashpot smooth, fitted ignitor new rotor and dizzy as the condenser and contacts needed replacing so wanted a fit and forget system.
Alot of new has been fitted I am slowly eliminating stuff, I thought the sparks were weak because they were sparking but Aldon beased fault description said if I was getting a constant 3-4V while cranking, then power transisitor could be short circuit, so assumed spark should be more powerful, but don't know how to further fault find on ignitor system as aldon closed until tomorrow.

[lrostoke]

where did you take your 12v feed from for the postive ??. Ran mine from the fuse box off the green wire

[fastroadie]

I'm not sure which 12V you are talking about but I took my Ignitor positive to the coill as per instruction and my coil positive where I disconnected the ballast from, I believe it was white cable, which is normally ignition switched, don't know if this setup will affect how the ignitor works.