8 replies to this topic

[phil2004_uk]

The story so far:
I fitted a 1275 metro engine in my mini, all was fine until 4 months after fitting.
I was on my way to a friends house (50 miles away) I had done 40 miles when the car started to missfire, 2 miles later and the engine died.
I eventually called the AA and after a few checks he told me that the electronic ignition unit had died, power was going into it but nothing coming out.
The car was put on the back of an AA truck and shipped home.
the next day I decided the best thing to do was to change the faulty unit.
All went well and the car was up and running again, went for a test drive and all seemed ok.
I decided to be on the safe side and go for a bit of a longer drive just to be sure.
3 miles later and the car started to splutter again, the same as it had before, so I turned round and headed for home.
Whatever the problem was that took out the ignition unit was still there causing problems.
The coil was the one that was fitted to the engine when it was in the metro as was the ballast resistor.
Now I don't want to start replacing part willy nilly as they are not cheap, but there can't be a lot it can be.
Has anybody got any ideas what it is.
Whatever the fault is, it is taking out the electronic ignition and I don't have an endless supply of them.

[Retro_10s]

dunno mate, this is why many stay away from elec ignition...go back to points for the time being and see if that helps.... Nothing wrong with points if set up correctly and clean.

[Dan]

Can't go back to points if the motor never had them though.

How has the engine been fitted into the car from an electrical point of view? Does the module run off a ballasted supply or a 12v supply? I believe that the OE Lucas electronic ignition system must run 12v to the module, ballasted supply will kill it.

[phil2004_uk]

Can't go back to points if the motor never had them though.

How has the engine been fitted into the car from an electrical point of view? Does the module run off a ballasted supply or a 12v supply? I believe that the OE Lucas electronic ignition system must run 12v to the module, ballasted supply will kill it.

I took the engine straight out of a metro and it had a ballast resistor bolted to the engine on the same mounting as the coil, I removed nothing from the engine, just fitted it straight in the mini and plugged in the alternator and startermotor and earth cable and used the original wires that went to the coil. the engine i took out was also from a metro and was only removed to be reconditioned.
The engine ran fine for 4 months trouble free

the module that was fitted was not rewired when it was fitted in the mini i left it all as it was, in other words i took the engine out with all electrics on the ignition side in tact and just reconnected the coil wires to the wiring loom of the mini.

[Dan]

What year is the Mini? What colour wiring is feeding the coil?

Edited by Dan, 24 February 2007 - 11:15 PM.

[cowboy]

did you fit an elertronic coil, or did you use the standard balast coil?

was your engine fitted with ballast ignition and as dan said did you change the power supply to 12v for the elec unit

[phil2004_uk]

did you fit an elertronic coil, or did you use the standard balast coil?

was your engine fitted with ballast ignition and as dan said did you change the power supply to 12v for the elec unit

right, it's a bit dark to go out and look at the colour of the wires but the coil and ballast resistor and the dizzy were the ones fitted to the engine that were on the metro, the mini is a 1978 mini city and had a 1275 metro engine fitted in it when i bought it so i don't know if anything else was modified electronically, as far as i know it is a 12 volt feed to the coil

hope this helps

[phil2004_uk]

did you fit an elertronic coil, or did you use the standard balast coil?

was your engine fitted with ballast ignition and as dan said did you change the power supply to 12v for the elec unit

right, it's a bit dark to go out and look at the colour of the wires but the coil and ballast resistor and the dizzy were the ones fitted to the engine that were on the metro, the mini is a 1978 mini city and had a 1275 metro engine fitted in it when i bought it so i don't know if anything else was modified electronically, as far as i know it is a 12 volt feed to the coil

hope this helps

Right, I think I was getting a little confused about this ballast thing.
I have been out and checked the wiring on the car and it has a white lead and a black and white lead that go to the coil from the wiring loom, looking in the manual, this suggests that I have a non ballast ignition system.
What I thought was a ballast resistor was in fact a capacitor that goes to the coil.
The 2 wires from the electronic ignition go straight to the coil.

As I said before the car has been running fine with the wiring as it is for ages, I have not had any ignition problems before.

I have changed the dizzy for one the same as was in there but whatever took out the electronic ignition module is doing it again, the only things I haven't changed is the coil and the capacitor.

If the coil was on its way out or the capacitor would this be able to take out the ignition module.

I don't mind buying a coil and capacitor if I know that they are the problem.

[phil2004_uk]

Just to let you all know, it was the coil, I went and bought a new one from my local mini shop (jonspeed racing) fitted it and all was well with the world again.
I must say, it is nice to have the mini back on the road again.

Thanks to all who answered my post, the last forum I tried was full of ignorent gits, nice to finally find a bunch of genuine people.

Phil