8 replies to this topic

[miniman86]

Model: Wolseley Hornet Auto
Year: 1969
Description of problem (please be as in depth as possible):
as i'm driving along the car will seem to be missfiring occasionally, but on listening to it more, it sounds as if it is actually cutting out for upto half a second at a time, have already changed the spade connectors on the coil, as thought it was these. also new points/condenser last october, with the piggyback for a 25d dizzy too. any ideas? as going to newquay in her friday, need it sorted asap. thanks


Any non-standard parts that might be involved with the problem?

[GreaseMonkey]

Fuelling?

[afhuey]

One of the best upgrades I did for my hornet was getting elctronic points. I used a luminition kit. In my mind it has taken the ignition out of the equation.

Now with that out of the way, I am sure you know that you need 3 things for your engine to run. Air, Fuel, and Fire. If it's cutting out while you are driving, it could be any one of those. Clogged air filter choking out your carb. Clogged fuel filter restricting fuel. Failing electronic fuel pump (most times it's a bad ground). If it's only under load, you might want to check your vaccum advance. If it's at idle or steady cruising, might be an air leak.

There are so many variables and you didn't really provide much of a scenario.....so yeah. Hope I gave you some stuff to check and if you figure something out post it up.

[miniman86]

sorry i wasn't vert specific, its hard to explain what its doing. i was wondering if it was the coil on its way out maybe? it has a new air filter, new fuel filter (both of these are over the last 5 months/1500 miles) i will check the connections on the fuel pump, as it does seem like its fuel starvation, and that is something i overlooked (first mini i've had with electric pump) I will post up later what i find, if you have any other ideas please let me know

Alex

[Gulfclubby]

First recheck and gap the point properly. Also make sure the plugs are clean and gapped correctly.

[dklawson]

First recheck and gap the point properly. Also make sure the plugs are clean and gapped correctly.

+1 on that.

Do the inexpensive things first. You said the ignition tune up was last October. That was 6 months ago. Points tend to wear and close which can create hard starting and poor running. It is also important when fitting new points to lube the 4-lobe cam in the dizzy so the heel block on the points does not wear quickly.

Coils do fail... but not often. Save replacing the coil until you have ruled almost everything else out. Coils tend to show problems when they are hot and/or when the engine is running at high speed.

You also mentioned fuel starvation as a possibility. Generally when fuel supply is a problem the car will "surge" and/or buck while driving under load. You will reach a speed above which you cannot drive any faster because there is insufficient fuel.

[afhuey]

First recheck and gap the point properly. Also make sure the plugs are clean and gapped correctly.

^^^^^^^
Werd to your momma on that one. That's why I dropped the couple extra bucks and got the Luminition kit. Takes that out of the equation and my Hornet starts ever so easily.

Would be interested to hear about his plug colors.

If you need to test your coil, just break out the multimeter , disconnect all the wires and run resistance checks. See that you've got 1-3 ohms from positve to negative pole and several thousand ohms from the HT lead to the positive pole. If those are good, then your coil is probably good.

[miniman86]

sorry guys i forgot all about this post. i adjusted the points, to which it ran worse, wouldn't rev at all, could barely idle. looked in my workshop & had a second hand coil on the shelf, tried it, and after doing 1100 miles in her with no problems last week (riv run!) i think i can safely say my old coil was buggered lol!

Alex

[Gulfclubby]

Excellent news then, saved you a few quid in the end:)