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MGB My MGB Won't Start--Please Help

Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
My 79 MGB has been giving me a little trouble and yesterday it finally quit runnning. The hubby got out his trusty, and well worn, Hanynes and Bently Manuals and says "I've have it back on the road for you shortly". Well it's a day later and it ain't back on the road. Seems as if he has encounted a problem with the coil/distributor set-up that he is not familiar with.
I told him we needed to contact the experts (you). He agreed and said to give give ya the following info:

1. It appears to have an aftermarket distributor which is very similar to the 45DE4 but does not have an Anti Flash Shield nor an amplifier mounted to it. It does have some type of box around it but no wiring. The vacuum unit is attached to the top of it.

2. There is, what appears to be, an amplifier on the firewall with three #12 AWG wires (red, black, & purple) and also a very small cable with three wires (black, gray, & white). The red wire from the amplifier is attached to the positive side of the coil, the black wire to the negative side of the coil and the purple wire is attached to a screw grounding it to the car body. The cable with the three very small wires goes to a pick-up in the distributor.

3. The positive side of the coil has a white/light green wire which is feed from fuse #5 and then through the resistor wire before it is attached to the coil. The red wire from the amplifer is also attached to the positive side.

4. The negative side of the coil has a white/black wire which goes to the tachometer. The black wire from the amplifier is also attached to the negative side.

5. When the key is in the on position seven volts (7 V) can be read when the multimeter is attched to positive and negative terminal on the coil.

6. When the coil wire is removed from the distributor and placed near ground it does produce a good blue arc when the engine is turned over.

7. When a spark plug wire is removed and placed near ground it produces a very weak, intermitten arc when the engine is turned over.

8. The engine does try to start but just doesn't quite make it. When any plug is pulled it is wet with gas (that's after trying to start)

9. He switched the distributor cap, rotor button, and all wires from the 80 MGB to the 79 and it still acts the same and won't start.

10. Oh, the connector with the white/blue, white, and white black wire, is not in use.


Problem: The car has been running great but in the last few days it was becoming harder and harder to start. Today it didn't, and hasn't.

PLEASE HELP THE HUBBY FIX MY MGB and he said he would love to know what type distributor the car has. the cap and rotor button from the 80 fit but the insides look completely different

Your turn,



Naomi (Owner of a 1964 MGB, a 1979 MGB and a 1980 MGB, all repaired hundreds of times but still loved /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
Na - is this the car with the Weber?
 
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1. Got a picture?

2. again a picture might help here

3. sounds right

4. sounds right

5. Is correct, and you have a good battery. The ballast resistor is cutting the voltage in half like it's supposed to.

6. good.

7. not good - should be a strong arc like in #6.

8. slightly flooded, but not bad.

9. Problem may be in the amplifier box - you've eliminated most of the other culprits. Can he switch the one (if there is one) from the 80 to test?

10. Interesting... again maybe a picture of the first 2 will clear up why this one isn't connected?

Something is definately up with that electronic ignition module (or the weird dizzy) IMHO.
 
OP
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Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
Tony it's the 79 I bought from Sam C.

kennypinkerton I can't seem to post pictures--they come out way to large. I can email you a reduced one to your home email. The 80 MGB Amplifier box is completely diffferent. It doesn't have the red, black, and purple wires as does the 79.

I sure hope ya'll can guide the hubby as to how to fix the problem,

Naomi
 
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Email 'em... I'll resize and post 'em here. I'm hardly an expert, but I can post the pics so maybe someone can ID it and have more info on what's wrong.
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
Na - what color is the little box? Does it have ribs on it or is it flat?
 
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Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
Tony it's black and has ribs if you are talking about the amplifier. If you are talking about the box around the distributor it is silver but has no wires or anything.

I just sent you a couple of pictures to you home email. They will be small but for some reason when I try to attach here they are to large.
Thanks so much for helping,
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
I got one of them...send them to Kenny & he'll do his magic & they'll appear here...sounds like, if its an original distributor, you have "the dreaded one"!!
 

rampant

Senior Member
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It sounds like a lucas 45de4,that someone modified with a aftermarket amplifier,and it too has now gone bad. if you find this to be the case, a pertronix unit is the cheapest fix,simply remove the old amplifer,and insall the pertronix unit, real simple. good luck
 
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I've been kind-of thinking the same thing, rampant. Original 45D-E4 with the box removed and something else adapted.

If that's the case (send the pics to me Naomi! I'll post them), then I'd say an even better solution is to replace the crappy, PO'd electronic dizzy with a points type 25D4 one from an earlier car. Just my opinion. Mine works great.
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
In one of the photos she sent me, it kinda looked like an OPUS!
 
OP
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Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
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It looks very similar to this https://market.autopartsfair.com/mg-engine_parts/catalog-item-286998.html but has a purple wire and not a yellow. The hubby says it could very well be this one. How would he check it?
Hey, than ya'll so much for helping,




Naomi (owner of a 1964, a 1979 and a 1980 MGB, all repaired hundreds of times but still loved /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
If its a Crane XR700, its a good unit - that's the one I use all the time...but, they do burn out if there's a power surge or something spikes the system
 
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Does the black box say "Crane"? or Fireball? on it anywhere? Is there any yellow/orange paint left on it? email me the pics!!!!!!
 
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Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
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Kenny I just sent the pictures to your email. They will be small and won't bog you down. For some reason when I try to attach on the bbs they come out way to big.

Hey thanks for all of your help and maybe the pictures, as poor quality as they are, will help in troubleshooting. They were taken in the dark last night with the hubby holding a flashlight and me taking pictures. The darn thing is broke down in our driveway and it's an up hill grade. Poor hubby is going to be out in the snow tomorrow taking your advice on how to get it running /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

PS: Just went out with the flashlight again and the black box "does not" have the words "Crane"? or Fireball? on it anywhere nor does it have any yellow or orange paint. It is all black and has a small (about the size of a nickle)silver disk in the middle.
 
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Ok, here's the pic Naomi sent me (I didn't get the second one - please send it seperately)...
190483-Naomisdizzy.jpg


Obviously a lightwheel setup going on here... (did Opus come with those? - I've never seen one)
 

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Ok, I've never seen one, But, my bentley manual shows a magnetic ring and sensor on the original Opus one, but not a light sensor setup. I'd say that whatever old aftermarket electronic ignition is on your car probably needs replaced. I'd get a Pertronix setup myself... As I'm not sure you can get points for that Dizzy. By the dual wiring slots in the side of it, it does look like it might be the original 45De4 dizzy housing. That'll help in ordering a new electronic Pertronix or Fireball setup for it.

I've had a factory light wheel setup fail a couple times on my Eagle Talon. If you can ID what aftermarket electronic ignition is on the car, you might be able to get replacement bits for it... If not, I'd go with a whole new one. They only cost about $120-160 depending on where you get one.
 
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Naomi

Jedi Hopeful
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I like the way you folks act on a problem here. Think I'll just make this my homepage /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Do I need to just call and order a new set-up tomorrow and, if so, what do I ask for? Is it something that Advance Auto or AutoZone would carry?

Thanks so much for taking time to troubleshooting the problem. Ya'll are just great /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Naomi (Owner of a 1964 MGB, 1979 MGB and a 1980 MGB, each repaired over a hundred times but still loved:smile:
 
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Here's the second pic (dizzy with the cap on)... Looks like a 45De4 Opus one to me... I'm just going on Bentley manual drawings though.
190506-Naomi1.jpg
 

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My choice would be to buy a used 25D4 distributor from Tony, and a new set of points... But I think you can get the pertronix setup for the dizzy you've got - Order it from Tony too... I don't think that it will be available at any local parts store - unfortunately.
 
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