18 replies to this topic

[lrostoke]

I seem to recall when I fitted an ignitor there was something in the instructions about having an air gap between the module and the rotor ring, probably the angle but yours looks very tight.

 

Your wiring installation is spot on though. 

 

You could try timing by ear, get it started, advance the dizzy and listen for the revs to increase, when at the highest they will go, back the dizzy off just a fraction.

If its already to far advanced you may have to retard and then advance to get any increase in revs

 

Then trial run it.

[zero_wlv]

Hi Irostoke,

 

I checked the gap with a 0.70mm feeler gauge so I think that should have been ok  (instructions specify 0.030" = 0.75mm).

I can only think that the timing must have been way out.    I did read one post by someone who had 4º advance on points and then installed an electronic module (either Ignitor or Accuspark,  I don't remember which),  and his strobe timer showed that the advance had increased to 28º !!

I have a strobe timer arriving tomorrow so I'll try installing the Ignitor again,  but I'll be able to do the timing precisely this time,  rather than just having to guess the static timing by sight.   Let's just hope I don't end up with another set of sooty damaged plugs!

 

Out of interest,  does anyone know what might have caused the ground electrode on one of my plugs to be bent so badly?   Would this be pre-ignition or would it be detonation?

[zero_wlv]

I've finally got everything running well,  with the Aldon Ignitor electronic kit installed.     I made several changes since my first (failed) installation,  so I really don't know which one made the difference.   I'll list them in case anyone else has trouble getting an Ignitor kit working:

 

-  changed original ballast coil to DLB105 (standard Lucas 3 ohm non-ballast coil),  and bypassed both the pink-white ballast wire and yellow-white wire from the starter.

-  opened the hole up in the Ignitor mounting plate.   I used a 7mm drill bit.   This was to provide a bit of adjustment to enable me to increase the air gap between the sensor and rotating sleeve.   I increased the air gap to a generous 0.90-1.00mm   (previously it was a fairly tight 0.70mm - probably a bit less).

-  scrapped the manky looking black earth wire in the dizzy and replaced it with a new one

-  renewed distributor cap and rotor.   The old ones weren't that worn so it probably made no difference.   (I measured the distance between opposing points on both old and new caps with callipers - there was about 1mm difference if that.)

 

After making all these changes,  it started up effortlessly on the first attempt.    The position of the static timing was the same as on my failed attempt last week  (I know because I'd marked the position of the dizzy with Tippex for comparison).     I did a test drive round the block and discovered that the engine knocked significantly at anything above 15mph,   so I stopped and retarded the timing a little.   This worked brilliantly and the car then drove well.   All that was left to do was to take it on a blast down the M5 to recharge the battery,  which was as flat as a pancake!

 

My strobe light didn't arrive in the post yesterday,  so I couldn't set the timing in the proper way.   I'll do that over the weekend instead.   But even setting it by ear as I did yesterday,  the engine appears to be running a little smoother than it did previously on its conventional ignition.

 

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions!    I definitely feel more at ease now I've changed over to a non-ballast coil as Steve-O suggested.   The whole front wiring loom looks tatty and geriatric so I didn't have much confidence in the ballast wire.

 

As to what caused such problems on my first attempt,  or how the spark plugs got so damaged in such a short space of time,  I can't be sure.

Edited by zero_wlv, 09 September 2016 - 08:23 AM.

[Steve-O 2014]

Excellent, when I checked the spark on mine compared to ballast and non ballast the non ballast spark was a lot stronger..... But that might have been due to the previous owner using a non ballast coil with the ballast wire.......