If it is an opus, they were probably the most unreliable dizzy ever made for the rover v8!
Ian
Standard 3.5 V8 with SU carbs fitted. I`ve got a spark to all plugs, fuel gets to both carbs, albeit one carb seems wetter than the other for now.
Turns over but won`t start? I`ve moved the distributor around in all sorts of positions to adjust timing possibilities but it just doesn`t even try to
fire up. I`m getting spit back out of one carb. It`s as if only one side of the engine wants to try. Any ideas? Faulty Distributor? Carbs knacked?
Nick
Plug order?
Firing order & HT leads all fitted correctly
+ oil in the carb dish
Have you got twelve volt at the coil on cranking as i believe the run on 9volt via the ballast but need 12 to start.
I,ve had a couple that have just died due to rotor arm, one was rumbling down the a21 and it just stopped !
Another when hot would start to cut out after 20 minutes and not start... rotor arm again.
The distributors are pretty rubbish, never seen one that did not have a lot of play...
Very unlightly to be carbs, even moving the distributor a little way makes a big difference
[Edited on 7/4/11 by mark chandler]
quote:
Originally posted by jacko
+ oil in the carb dish
Check firing order again. I did this twice and got it wrong!
Check not 180 deg out at distributor.
Check ignition amp or cold start resistor
Check plugs
nothing else left
Cheers!
quote:
Originally posted by snippy
quote:
Originally posted by jacko
+ oil in the carb dish
What do you mean Jacko? Do I have oil in the carbs?
As already suggested check the voltage at the coil when cranking , if points set up there should be a take off from the starter to feed the positive side of the coil with battery voltage when cranking. Might be worth removing the spark plug from no 1 cylinder , holding your thumb over the hole and turning the engine by hand until pressure builds up, watch timing marks and continue turning until TDC then make sure rotor arm points to no 1 lead on the distributor cap. If it still doesn't fire up give it a squirt of brake cleaner down the carbs, it's a bit less brutal than easistart
180 deg out on dizzy and cam.
will spit back out of carb.
Paul
Hmm, a few things there for me to double check over the weekend.......
if all the above does not work and you come back to report would help to give us a bit more history on how you come to be at this stage, is it a
rebuild and you are trying to start for first time, someones else car you are looking at, have you ever had it running that sort of thing as might be
relevant
Rich
It`s a Westfield V8 that me and a mate have bought as a winter project. It was a non runner when we bought it but the car has had a top end engine rebuild with receipts to show this. We`ve done all the cosmetic stuff and repairs and upgrades to the car and it now looks fantastic so the last job is to get it running so it can go to Stoneleigh. It had stood for 12 months outside by the previous owner before we bought it. We had it running a few weeks back albeit for about a minute and it clearly wasn`t running right. Now I`m struggling with it again. Good compression on all cylinders. Going over to fiddle with it today, will bear in mind everyone`s comments and report back.
Bit of an update. The HT leads were in the correct order but it appears they were 90 degrees out with the rotor arm? Swapped them all around and
pretty sure HT leads all now correct and Rotor Arm is pointing at No.1 Cyl when at TDC on timing marks.I`ve added oil to the tops of the carbs too as
they both dry.
Problem now appears to be the coil. On the positive side of the coil I have a black and white wire from the loom and another wire that feeds the
distributor direct. On the negative side of the coil I have a green wire. With both wires off the coil I`m getting 7 volts when ignition on. When
connected to the coil and ignition again on they are reading 0! As a result no spark getting to the plugs. Have swapped wires over on coil to try that
but still get same results. Is the coil knacked?
After reading a lot about suitable ignitions to use on a RV8, and battling with the distributor on my pre SD1 rover, I threw caution (and the credit
card) to the winds, and ordered the below kit from Paul at V8 Tuner.
It make sparks like a arc welder.
Fred WB
Image deleted by owner
[Edited on 10/4/11 by Fred W B]
Unsuccessful afternoon on the V8, no spark at all now. Thinking the coil has packed up. Tried to give the + side of coil a direct feed from battery
or a switched feed off the starter when cranking but still no spark.
Fred - I would love to go with a kit like that but funds don`t allow.
Do you know exactly what dizzy you've got? Is there a separate ignition amp (a silver box behind the coil), or is there a small box on the side
of the dizzy? Ignition amp failure is not uncommon on the RV8 and it looks like a duff coil. This is a good read
http://www.v8forum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=78.
The lower voltage with ignition on implies you have a ballast resistor, but that should be about 9v normal and fed 12v direct during cranking from the
starter. What coil you get doesn't really matter provided that it matches whether or not your system is ballasted.
A carbed V8 should be relatively easy to get started if you have fuel and spark. It may run rough as a dog, but provided you have about 4 cylinders
sparking at approximately the right time then you should get something out of it.
One other thing, if the coil gets hot, it's probably duff.
I just had a problem getting a Rover V 8 to start, it seemed to have sparks some times and not others and after turning over a few times it stopped
sparking completely.It was an SD1 engine with the Lucas contact less system with the pick up and ignition amp on the dizzy.When i checked it the coil
was always switched to earth by the amp and it turned out that the amp was faulty, I rang around a few local auto factors and no one had one in stock
but i eventually found the 80s metros etc had the same ignition amp and I managed to find one in the local scrapyard, when fitted i had a good spark
and it started first time.
Paul
This might sound daft but I can find no separate ignition amp (silver box) near to the coil and neither is there a black amp module attached to the side of the dizzy. On the side of the dizzy there is just the vacuum take off. I`ll have to root around under the dash to see if there`s one hidden under there but it would be an odd place to fit it.
If you have neither, then you may have an early OPUS dizzy, which wasn't the best available. As far as I know, they didn't use an amp, so in that case it probably is just a shagged coil.
The opus system was common on the early SD1, and not reliable at all. If it is one, when you take the dizzy cap and rotor arm off, under the plastic
cover you'll see a white/cream plastic disc with 8 ferrite rods pressed in around the circumference. The electronics is built into the dizzy
around the outside of the plastic disc.
If it is an opus, they were probably the most unreliable dizzy ever made for the rover v8!
Ian
Well I hope I`ve done right but I snapped up an electronic ignition set up for the V8 off Ebay. So I plan to remove the old dizzy and replace it with the following set up. Lucas 35DM8 Dizzy, Lucas Coil, Lucas 2CE Constant Energy Ignition Unit. I`m hoping that being electronic it will be more reliable. I got this lot complete and it is all wired up together ready to fit except for 2 loose wires. There is a small black plug coming off the coil loom which has 2 wires, one white, one black. I`m guessing black is for earth and white is for 12v feed once igntion on? I`ve tried to upload a pic of this lot but don`t see how to?
This may be way off but when i last built a car with rover V8 power about 1979 ish after the engine had been stood for a long time the
hydraulic tappets dont work correctly and keep the valves slightly open thus no compression
i think it took me a week to start that engine after trying everything possible it just started one day
maybe of help
cheers malc
I've got some photos here (https://picasaweb.google.com/dave.g.smith/BlownCoil#) which may help. It turned out I had a dodgy alternator that was cooking the amps so some of the commentary is misguided. There are also extra connections to my coil for the rev limiter I was running at the time.
Thanks for the continued posts.
Have fitted the replacement electronic dizzy etc but I am still getting no spark. So I think the problem is wiring.
As far as I can see I have 2 wires coming from the coil lead which are white and black. On the Westy loom I have one green wire and one black/white
wire. The green wire has 12 volts when ignition on and the white/black has 7 volts. Do I connect the green wire on the loom to the white wire from the
coil? Can anyone confirm the connections for me or offer any suggestions why I am getting no spark?
Cheers all.
Buy yourself a multimeter and test the wiring , you will probably find one of the wires has battery voltage with the ignition switched on
You have put some fresh petrol in the tank?? ie its not been in there for 18 months or more? ie its stale petrol.
Had this a couple of times, and makes it a pig to start.
I usually squirt a bit of neat fresh petrol in the carb, but be carful and have an extinguishger handy incase it spits back and catches fire.
I tend to use a squirt of propane gas from the gas gun in these days... Works just as well.
Old Rover Dizzys can be a bit troublesome.
Hope all goes well and you get it to Stoneleigh.
Keep at it, you will get there in the end.
Yes there is plenty of fresh petrol in the tank! I had someone look over the car tonight and it looks like both coils are buggered, bad luck or what. So, shopping for a new shiny coil tomorrow and hope to fit it later in the week and finally get this beast into life!
Check that it hasn't fried the coils due to a fault with the wiring or ignition amp, also note that some earlier engines used ballast resistor
coils and later ones 12v coils so if your using a newer ignition module make sure the coil matches.
Paul
quote:
Originally posted by snippy
Yes there is plenty of fresh petrol in the tank! I had someone look over the car tonight and it looks like both coils are buggered, bad luck or what. So, shopping for a new shiny coil tomorrow and hope to fit it later in the week and finally get this beast into life!
Just stumbled across this guide, it should help you out
http://www.v8forum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8215
quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
One other thing, if the coil gets hot, it's probably duff.