miss under acceleration after warming

[emann]

Diagnosing engine problems is definitely NOT my strong suit.

My BE's been running fine for most of the summer.

Then I took it to its 1st car show.

Now, it seems to run fine until it warms up. Then under just slight acceleration, it starts missing. It continually gets worse for about 10 minutes. Then it's sputtering so hard, I'm putt-putting down the street and have to pull over.

If I pull over and sit for a minute, it gets a little better for a few minutes and then putt-putt again.

Am I looking at an ignition issue? Timing, points & condenser, coil?

The coil has always gotten hot to the touch. Is that normal?

Plugs are new this summer. Everything else is 20 years old (but very low mileage /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif )

I'm thinking of buying all new ignition stuff (points, condenser, coil) and putting it all in and seeing what happens. But any pointers to get me going are greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Ed

 

[BWillis]

Sounds like a failing coil to me.

 

[jlaird]

Go for it, let us know result. Sounds like coil failing as well.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

I'm going to guess... that the valves are improperly adjusted.

 

[glemon]

I had a bad condensor on a Sprite once that exhibited similar symptoms. However, that was the only time I have ever had a condensor go bad, so I would not bet on it.

Lucas actually makes an ignition fault finding guide that takes you through the steps of testing all iginition components, I think Moss and others sell it, one use makes it worht the $12 or so it costs.

 

[drooartz]

I had a similar issue with the Tunebug, and it turned out to be due to bad plug wires. I wasn't using the proper type, and they weren't getting a good spark to the plugs. Replaced them with proper solid core wires, and the trouble went away.

 

[emann]

Thanks for all the help so far.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] Replaced them with proper solid core wires, and the trouble went away.[/QUOTE]

Are the ignition wires that Moss sells solid core?

 

[racingenglishcars]

I have seen way too many bad condensors to that trick.
A bad coil can also do it, (like my Land Rover did last summer) but I would start with the condensor. Plug wires tend to fail on cold wet mornings and not so much after warm-up. Resistance wires aren't bad, just that they have the problem of... well resistance. That can help marginal insulation to become bad. Too tight valves could also definately be a problem.

 

[jlaird]

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif All those things.

 

[Sarastro]

If the coil is getting hot, something is definitely wrong. You need to have an "internally ballasted" coil--should have something like 3-4 ohms of resistance. If it has less than that, you have the wrong coil. You could add a ballast resistor in series with it, but probably getting the right coil would be better. The coil may be failing because of the overheating.