The Ace Mechanic Again

daveymc29

daveymc29

Well-known member
So Wednesday I went to coffee with the lads and the coupe ran like it should.
When we left it started right up and as my friend was backing out I saw he had his lights on and I thought "Why not?" So I switched mine on and the engine immediately died, Figured my circuit breaker didn't think kindly of the extra load so I waited a bit for it to reset, turned the lights off and tried to restart. No luck, so I waited again and tried a second time. Still the engine spun quickly but no sign of a spark. We threw a strap around our bumpers and my buddy pulled me home. A checked for spark at the points and there was power there
was power there so I pulled the wire out of the distributor and held it next to a head bolt and cranked the engine. Nothing. Changed the condenser and off to the races. Went to the parts house and all they had was one made in Mexico. I hope that it outlast the last one. It was only good for about two months or so.
 
New condensers ae a real "luck of the draw" thing to buy - and you need a lot of luck. I go for a half decent brand and stay well clear of any Chinese item. You can bet if it has no country of origin on it, it will be Chinese. I never thought I'd say this but one of the best I have found was Bosch (never liked Bosch from the time I was a kid.
 
Check that you have power on both sides of the circuit breaker. If not, I would replace the circuit breaker with a fuse. I have run across poor quality circuit breakers that will do exactly what you say happened.

My suggestion.

Chris W.
 
As the failure occurred the moment you turned your lights on, I'd suggest going through the light wiring to look for a short. A common place is in the headlamp socket, where the fiber base for the electric contacts can warp and allow the contacts to touch each other or to touch the socket body.
 
[/B]
Will N said:
As the failure occurred the moment you turned your lights on, I'd suggest going through the light wiring to look for a short. A common place is in the headlamp socket, where the fiber base for the electric contacts can warp and allow the contacts to touch each other or to touch the socket body.
Click to expand...

Good and logical advice for sure !
By the way who ever nicknamed you Ace Mechanic haha ?
 
Hello, you may want to check grounds on lights and ignition , I had (still have) a MGB that would run poorly with lights on ,found problem was bad ground on lights drew power from coil .
 
I had the same problem were the engine stalled when the lights were turned on. I had an AGM battery and the battery showed 6 volts. Had the battery load tested and found that it could not supply the amps necessary to run the lights. A new battery solved the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top