Wife and I decided to go out for a run today, as I'd hardly had a chance to get the car out since Christmas. Got 3 or 4 miles up the road when everything died - engine would turn over easily, but no go. Nothing obvious wrong, so got recovered back home.

Tried every obvious thing, and found that I had no sparks. All my ignition system's fuses were good, I had 12v everywhere I should, and all my earths were clean and tight. I changed the EDIS unit as I had a spare - still no go. Wouldn't even run in 'limp-home' mode with the Megajolt unplugged.

In the end, I poked & pushed everything and tried again - and it started! Did a few laps of the village to see if it would happen again, but it continued to run. All the connectors seem clean and tight, so no clues.

Now I don't trust it for long journeys - I HATE intermittent faults!!!

[Edited on 14/3/09 by David Jenkins]

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Originally posted by David Jenkins

I HATE intermittent faults!!!

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sounds like knackered coil pack? or vr sensor is not sending signal to edis?

Mine did this - turned out to be a bad earth. I actually think the root cause is going out with the wife in the car as mine has never missed a beat other than when I persuaded my mrs to go for a drive with me.



Stu

quote:

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Originally posted by omega0684
sounds like knackered coil pack? or vr sensor is not sending signal to edis?

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As you say you had no sparks and 12v everywhere you should, my money would be on a dodgy vr connector or sensor.

Cheers

Rich

Sounds like it could be the classic of all ECU problems. A dodgy connection. Unplug it. Replace it with a new part. It works. send the old one back. No Fault Found. The very act of unplugging something and plugging it back in again cleans up the contacts and it works.

I once had a similiar problem, it eventually turned out to be because I had used a diode circuit to get the rev counter signal from the coil lt connections.It seems that the diodes I used were breaking down when warm and killing the spark.
Paul

I had something similar once. Turned out to be water in one of the connections. Not sure which. Gave all the terminals a little WD40 action and it fired into action shortly afterwards.....

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Originally posted by smart51
The very act of unplugging something and plugging it back in again cleans up the contacts and it works.

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Are you still running an xflow?

If so, have you checked the points gap?

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Originally posted by stevebubs
Are you still running an xflow?

If so, have you checked the points gap?

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The points gap is perfect - but the dizzy's in a box in the garage!


[Edited on 1/3/09 by David Jenkins]

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Originally posted by whitestu
Mine did this - turned out to be a bad earth. I actually think the root cause is going out with the wife in the car as mine has never missed a beat other than when I persuaded my mrs to go for a drive with me.



Stu

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Well, I had the ideal situation today - this fault inspired me to remove the dashboard and do the wiring re-arrangements I've been meaning to do for yonks. After putting it all back together last night, I rolled the car out of the garage this morning and tried to start it - no go again. A CONSISTENT FAULT CONDITION! Whoopie! This time, I had all my test gear and tools handy, so I was able to test it properly.

There was no power on the feed to my EDIS and Megajolt, but the starter turned over when I pushed the start button (that was what I added this week). The solenoid and start button is fed from a point very close to the EDIS feed so, weighing up the evidence, it could only have been one thing - a relay in my immobiliser circuit. After replacing it, the car started and continued to run during a 20-mile blat.

Now - can anyone suggest a source of manufacturer-quality relays, rather than the general-purpose dodgy ones usually offered by kit car electrical suppliers? With the standard pin layout, of course!

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Now - can anyone suggest a source of manufacturer-quality relays, rather than the general-purpose dodgy ones usually offered by kit car electrical suppliers? With the standard pin layout, of course!

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I get most of my relays from scrap yards. Nice OEM versions, which also tend to be a bit more waterproof than the aftermarket stuff. They may or may not fit in an inside jacket pocket.