backfire...ect.

[Rick G]

Just had the bt7 in for a tuneup and annual check.......never ran better. Today I spent 7 hours washing and detailing the car.....(including degreasing and washing the engine). Went our for a long ride and the car ran fantastic. After a stop at a little Itailian place to bring home dinner, I could barely get it started and had to endure constant bucking and backfires all the way home...had to keep it in third gear to have enough power. I suspect this is a result of washing down the engine, but I don't know why it did so after running so well for 30 miles and then starting to act up. What do you all think?

 

[AUSMHLY]

Hi Rick,
Might check to see if the inside of the distributor cap is wet. Others will chime in soon with more things to look into. Roger

 

[healeynut]

Rick -

I bet it's just coincidence with the timing to your wash.

Sounds to me like you have a faulty fuel pump, or clogged up fuel lines.

 

[BIBBER]

I'm betting on the wetness....might have just seeped into the cap or combination of wires etc....hopefully by now she's dried out and purring like a kitty again!...of course
my Sprite runs it's best with a little pop in the exhaust!!

 

[Rick G]

Okay, I checked the cap and it had some condensation inside. Cleaned it and started the engine. Ran great for 30 seconds and then the black wire for the cap to the coil caught on fire. I used my last beer to put it out!!!!. This is an electronic ignition and I have positive ground for what it is worth. I striped the wires ...cut and taped them back up with electrical tape....started the engine and it fired up for about 20 seconds...would die and start up again for 15 to 30 seconds at a time. This continued for several tries. Now it is just dead and will not spark. The rest of the electronics on the car are fine. What do I do now? Please help.

 

[GregW]

Hi Rick,
How long have you had the electronic ignition? Is it a Pertronix? If it is, I’m confused by the “black wire from the distributor to coil”. On a positive Pertronix, the black wire should go from the Ignitor to the ignition switch. The black/white wire goes to the distributor.

 

[Rick G]

Yes, it is. Check the PM as I can not seem to produce an attachment small enough to send on the forum. I set my camera for the least setting, but it is still to large to transmit.

 

[healeynut]

Rick -

Switch your disty back to the points and see if that fixes your problem. Once you do that get back to us.

If putting in the points fixes your problem, then send your unit back to Pertronix, they will likely replace it no questions asked.

The black wire catching on fire does make me suspicious. You have a BT7 which means the wires first run from the Pertronix module then down into the disty body, then out again. These wires can easily get fouled up in the advance weights... if the wires are too tight the advance plate can't move. If too loose then the wires will contact the advance weights when the motor is at high revs.

The other thing it may be is your coil is shot. If the coil's oil is bad, or if the coil is heating up too much, it can caus eht problems you are talking about as well. after the car craps out touch the coil... if it is very very hot the solution may be simply to replace your coil.

 

[Dave Russell]

Hi Rick,
How long have you had the electronic ignition? Is it a Pertronix? If it is, I’m confused by the “black wire from the distributor to coil”. On a positive Pertronix, the black wire should go from the Ignitor to the ignition switch. The black/white wire goes to the distributor.

To clarify a bit:
See the attached pics. Note that the negative ground Pert. module has different wire colors & completely different connections than a positive ground unit.
D

 

[Keoke]

Yes Greg, However, the Positive ground set up requires a ground wire that is not used for negative ground installations. This Gnd wire could also be Black.---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif

 

[GregW]

Hi guys,
Rick e-mailed me his photos and I resized them to post here. Keoke, looking on the Pertronix website and also Dave’s diagrams, I’m not seein’ a black wire from the Ignitor to the dizzy. ? There also seems to be a white wire disconnected in the photos.

 

[Keoke]

That is correct Greg, however the Positive terminal of the coil must be grounded, if a wire color other than black was used so be it, it just violated standard color codes, that wire is not included in the kit.---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif

Well one thing is for sure the pert is cooked. I also do not like that white misty stuff inside the dizzy. Rip it all out and reinstall points. Dk Lawson had a similar failure in a pert when he accidentally got it damp. I also do not know why there are two switched power wires ,White, coming out of that harness one is connected to the fried black wire . It be a bit of a mess in there need to clean the wiring up. Pert wiring inside the Dizzy not done properly could have shorted 12 Volt line.-Keoke

P.S. Note the rotor it is a good one; "No Rivits" give it a good cleaning up it shoud be OK.

I think the black wire with the Red insulator is what you are referring to and is the ground wire, which is correct, and it is terminated under or on the harness clamp on the wheel arch. Hard to see though.

 

[Dave Russell]

I can't tell from the pics exactly how it is wired. Not sure if it's correct or not. If it is wired wrong, the module may well be damaged. I have attached a drawing in an attempt to better explain how it should be wired for a positive ground Pert.

I'm not sure where the old WH/BK wire that originally went from points to battery ground shutoff switch ended up.
Dave

 

[Keoke]

Hi Dave, I did not see that wire either, but it would not impact the circuit's operation if it were hooked up to the Pos terminal of the coil. Further, very close examination of the Dizzy suggests that the Pert module might have escaped harm and a new black wire could be spliced on. ?? Further, this distributor shows signs of extreme neglect excessive rust on the top plate and probably propagates to the action plate underneath.

I would suggest that the Dizzy be sent to Jeff for a complete rebuild. However a pro rebuild will not compensate for poor wiring practices out side the unit. For example the switched power line connection to the black wire of the Pert does not have a proper Male lucar insulated connector on it. It appears to have been just jammed in the end of a deteriorating Female one ---Keoke

 

[Rick G]

Thanks for all the help guys. I believe I properly respliced the black wire. I pulled it out as far as I could from the distributor and found no brakes or bare spots. Yesterday I got it to run several times for 10-15 seconds before it would shut down. With the newly spliced wire I get no spark at all. If I have a short, how do I test it . I have an all purpose meter, but I just leave it on the workbench for show. No idea how to use it or where to stick the red and black points......if I did know where to place them, would they have to be reversed on the pos ground healey? Any help is apprecicated cause it costs me 150 bucks to have a flatbed brought in to take to a professional every time I screw up something.

 

[Keoke]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

Just put them point's back in then we will try to salvage the Pert and render the artifact , Meter, useful.---Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

P.S. Yes the red and black leads on the meter will need to be rversed when reading voltages, unless the meter has a polarity reversing switch on it,

 

[GregW]

Hi Rick,
Looks like that loose white wire needs to be joined in with the black wire and the other white wire. My guess is that is your power lead that goes to the Pertronix. The white wire that is connected may be the one that goes to your ignition switch. This may not solve the original problem though.

 

[healeynut]

Greg/Rick -

No no no. That white (with black stripe) wire is the ignition grounding wire that goes back to the master battery switch. It is ok to leave this wire un connected to anything.... all it does is ground the ignition (so that it won't work) if the battery master is switched off.

Rick - just do yourself a big favor and reinstall points and condensor, then go from there. If the Pertronix is cooked, this will be the fastest and easiest way to tell.

 

[GregW]

Alan,
I never said anything about a white/black wire.

 

[GregW]

I think the black wire with the Red insulator is what you are referring to and is the ground wire, which is correct, and it is terminated under or on the harness clamp on the wheel arch. Hard to see though.

Hi Keoke,
No, that was not the wire I was referring to. Rick’s second post mentioned the black wire going from the dizzy to the coil. He had also mentioned his car was positive ground. That made me wonder if he had a neg. ground Pertonix installed. The photos show that it is a pos. ground Pert. and the burnt wire was the black wire in the foreground that connects to the two white wires that come from the ignition switch and go to the fuse block. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif