dave123456789 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Hey guys sorted the wof on my super minx today but my car now has an annoying habbit of turning off when you get to the lights. Only happens sometimes too, few times it would idle mint as then at the next set of lights it would just die. If i rolled up to the lights keeping a foot on the gas it was fine. Tried having the choke out a bit to keep the revs up but that didnt seem to do anything. Where do I start? Only recent addons is new points and condenser but that was a while ago and car was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTERUS Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 How much petrol is in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 I chucked 30 in it today so still half full. Fuel bowl in engine bay was still full when car died first time. Also pulled air filter off and there was fuel being squirted into the carb when i moved the linkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseakennedy Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My chevette used to do this, I turned up the idle revs and now it's algood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Sounds like points issue - check the points with a dwell meter if you have one. Often with new points if you don't lube the camlobe with a tiny bit of grease then the rubbing block can wear quite quickly. Checking with a pair of feeler blades will be pointless (no pun intended) as the points will have small imperfections in the surface of the points and the gap will be wrong. However if you are pretty good with the old eyecrometer you can open the points up and eliminate that as a fault - you want the gap about the thickness of a playing card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoKer Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 car running on the alternator? does the battery sound flat, does it do the same if you turn your lights on etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 My chevette used to do this, I turned up the idle revs and now it's algood! I idle at about 1000 already, sometimes more sometimes a bit less depending on how the car whats to behave. Sounds like points issue - check the points with a dwell meter if you have one. Often with new points if you don't lube the camlobe with a tiny bit of grease then the rubbing block can wear quite quickly. Checking with a pair of feeler blades will be pointless (no pun intended) as the points will have small imperfections in the surface of the points and the gap will be wrong. However if you are pretty good with the old eyecrometer you can open the points up and eliminate that as a fault - you want the gap about the thickness of a playing card. I do not have a dwell meter but will throw my spare set of points at it and see if it makes a difference. I did not lube anything except give the face of the points a good clean. I did manage to drive around quite a fair bit before this started happening, probably 30 minutes. could it still be points? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 car running on the alternator? does the battery sound flat, does it do the same if you turn your lights on etc? Using a generator, works mint and battery is a big 750cca. First time it died I had to crank it for ages cause i forgot i had the choke right out and battery had lots of juice left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I do not have a dwell meter but will throw my spare set of points at it and see if it makes a difference. I did not lube anything except give the face of the points a good clean.I did manage to drive around quite a fair bit before this started happening, probably 30 minutes. could it still be points? Yup - sure could be - by spare set of points do you mean a brand new set?PS- you lube the camlobe with a very small dab of grease - about half a raindrop size is almost a bit too much.. put some on the end of a flat blade screwdriver and transfer onto one of the lobes and then smear it around the 4 lobes of the points cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 I do not have a dwell meter but will throw my spare set of points at it and see if it makes a difference. I did not lube anything except give the face of the points a good clean.I did manage to drive around quite a fair bit before this started happening, probably 30 minutes. could it still be points? Yup - sure could be - by spare set of points do you mean a brand new set?PS- you lube the camlobe with a very small dab of grease - about half a raindrop size is almost a bit too much.. put some on the end of a flat blade screwdriver and transfer onto one of the lobes and then smear it around the 4 lobes of the points cam. Yes brand new set Pretty much have a spare of everything ignition related in the glove box, from coil to plugs. Learn something new everyday, should have got my google on before replacing them. I'll give that a try tomorrow when I can see what I am doing and report back! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 No problemo - may as well chuck a new condensor in there at the same time - I'm a stickler for ALWAYS replacing points and condensor at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 I think you may have solved my issue I put my new set of points in with a dab of grease. Didnt use the feeler gauges this time and just eye balled it about the width of a playing card. I did give the edge of the rotor and the inside of the dizzy cap a good clean with a bit of paper and now seems to work mint. How would I go about converting one of these to electronic dizzy? I see there is some on trademe but at 200+ thats half of what I paid for the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Sweet as man. You can get Petronix kits for most old Pommy shit still (I think).. You need the number of the side of the distributor.. A wild guess is a Hillman Minx would be the same as an Avenger/Hunter dizzy.. http://www.pertronix.com/support/ignito ... fault.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I have a pertronix kit. Take a look at getting them shipped from overseas if you don't mind the wait. I got mine from the states (although I got mine with a distributor as mine was poked). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 My distributor has 25D on it so I guess mines the 25D4 listed on that site? Sweet im going to try and order one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 The 4 at the end denotes it's off a 4 cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Alright, little update. I have installed an electronic ignition kit and it seems to drive a bit nicer but I am still suffering from it dying every once and a while when I stop at the lights. Also when starting it when cold it sounds a bit like a rotor and behaves really shit but eventually gets to idling properly. Im going to find a dizzy cap, rotor and get a new set of plugs for it but other than that do I have to start looking at the carb? Would rather not start playing with the current carb as I have a 28/36 weber I need to get rebuilt and put on. I also dont have a timing light so do not know if that has anything to do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borgweiser Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Ditch the Zenith, this is a common fault for them. Get weber on asap, otherwise have a play with the idle mixture screw at the basescrew it in till it starts to falter, then out a half turn usually sorts them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubastreet Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 replace the ignition coil with a12v bulb. turn on the ignition and turn the crank with a spanner the direction the engine runs. when the bulb turns off is when the spark happens so check the timing marks then. edit: duh! electronic ignition now so this may not work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave123456789 Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks for the tips guys. Swapping carbs is the most expensive bit at this stage at rebuild + manifold + filter all adding to alot. slowly chipping at it with manifold ordered this week. Still have not checked the timing but will do it this sunday off. Who is the guy on the forum who can get cheap things from repco or supercheap? Im after a set of leads and plugs and im a jew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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