Forums / The Lounge / Fixed in a field (not a C6... and a bit long winded)

C6owners :: Forums :: The Lounge :: The Lounge


Fixed in a field (not a C6... and a bit long winded)	Please Register to enjoy additional Member Benefits

Author

Post

C6Dave United Kingdom

Sun Aug 25 2024, 02:18pm

Joined: Oct 01 2009

Member No: #1

Location: Northumberland

So took the 1980 Dolomite to a rally today and all was going well until we stopped to change into reverse to park up when the engine died....

Tried to several times start again, and it fired but just died again, pressing the throttle.... grr

Pushed back into line and had a look. Instant crowd of fellow owners saying it was a fuel issue, I was not convinced, but having put 20 litres of E5 in 15 minutes before on the way up it was a 'hmmm' moment.

However, disconnecting the pump outlet and cranking the engine showed that was not the issue.

So back to my personal thought, ignition and a problem with the 'Power Spark' module. Having had similar problems with electronic ignition in the past I knew I had the original points and condenser in the car, somewhere.... eventually found them buried in a box inside the spare wheel in the boot, so out came the electronic unit with a view to putting the points back in but (yes you guessed)

I dropped the small screw that holds the condenser down and as we were on long grass, it was gone.

So after a bit of head scratching and an idea from a friend, 'borrowed' one of the 2 screws holding the dizzy advance plate and used that with a couple of copper washers as it was too long to tighten down. All boxed up, turned the key and the car started up and ran no problem using the old points and condenser.

Wandering around the few jumble stalls I found an old Lucas distributor and took the cap off and all the screws were in it along with a set of points and condenser, so for £5.00 it was a no-brainer buy.

Drove home a few hours later and sorted out the screw situation inside the dizzy and reset the points, and it's all sorted

Try doing that in a 'modern' car


Jump: Back to top User Colour Key: Head Administrator, Administrator, Technical Expert, C6 Premier Discount Club