My AH BJ7 stalls out then dies.

[Johnny]

Recently I left to attend our local "All British Car Show" which my car usually loves to attend. However Saturday morning I barely made it out of the subdivision when she just quit running. I keep my car in pretty good shape and am quit familiar with all the usual problems, but this one has me stumped. The car would start and run for about 30 seconds then just quit which was just enough time to get me home after repeated starting and dying episodes. By the time I got home I could smell the very familiar electrical odor of something burning. I didn't see any smoke but the odor was very strong under the hood on the passenger side. Of course I first disconnected the battery cable, then started tracking down the odor. No fuses were blown. No evidence of burnt wiring. I removed the cover from the voltage regulator and couldn't see anything wrong but the odor was still somewhere in that vicinity. I also checked the starter solenoid and with a VOM decided it was okay. With the cover off the Voltage Regulator I started the car again and noticed the VR was beginning to smoke on the right side (control side relay) and the relay on that side was very hot. So, my question is, why would that condition stall the car out?

I have a Pertronix unit installed in the car.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Drawing too much current away from the ignition coil, causing a brown out, of sorts?

You should be glad the car didn't let you get any farther__at least you weren't broke down on the freeway or stalled in the middle of a busy intersection :wink:

 

[vette]

I would tend to agree with Randy. But I have a question. Would the possible "brown out" have caused a points type ignition to stall the car?
I'm not real found of Pertronics or any other aftermarket electronic ignition on a street driven car for the very reason that it will let you set when it blows. A points ignition will start to let you know something is wrong usually way before it quits.
Dave.

 

[Johnny]

I don't think it matters what type of ignition you have if the failure is before the points or pertronix.

I'm ordering a new Voltage Regulator today but I'm concerned that maybe there's something else wrong. Since the VR cutout relay is failing what caused it to fail?

I recently, early this year, converted to negative ground and was reading from the Hendricks WW instructions that switching grounds could cause the 49 year old VR to go out.

What do you think Randy?

 

[vette]

Johnny,
You might be right. And I hope you are. But it is not so uncommon that voltage illregularities, voltage spikes or such things as harmonics might knock out solid state components.
Tradition points systems will often let you know of electrical system and ignition reqression without completely failing thus giving you time to start diagnosis and trouble shooting before they just quit. Points are not as problematic as some think. Unless you are looking for performance near an engines peak operating parameters points do a great job without letting you sit. Before I took my Healey apart for restoration, I ran it for 7 seasons on the same untouched set of points.
I'll get off my soap box now. I do hope you good luck with little trouble.
Dave C.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Johnny,
... But it is not so uncommon that voltage illregularities, voltage spikes or such things as harmonics might knock out solid state components.
...

OT, but my folks have a 2000 Lincoln LS. Good car, except for a couple of well-known problems. One problem was bad OEM coils, which would actually cause the engine to stop. Finally found a website where a pro had analyzed the issue on the road using all the modern test equipment (digital O-scope, etc.). Turns out, when a COP was going bad it would put a large spike on the low-voltage circuit which would cause the ECU to completely stop operating and, of course, the engine would shut down. After a couple minutes the engine would start again and run like everything was OK until the next spike, which could be minutes, hours or days later. A full set of new coils solved the problem.

Full story here: https://tinyurl.com/9pdlp8w

 

[drambuie]

Speaking of points! I never had a problem with my stock points, condenser or rotors in any of my old british cars. But that changed a few weeks ago! All of a sudden my Healey would stall and not run. Then restart and stall after less then a minute. I checked the fuel pump first, It was fine. Pulled all the plugs to find they where all black which told me there was little or no spark! My coil was 6 months old and the tuneup only had 3000 miles on it! Only After changing the points, condenser, rotor and coil with my new spares the car ran perfect again! Changing one Ignition part one at a time to try to find which componite failed got me no where! I had to go with ALL my new ignition spares to get it running perfect again. I guess they dont make things like they used to! 3000 miles on a new tuneup? I was thinking of replacing my stock point system with a new Flame thrower but after hearing some people here talk about there electrical problems i am not so sure now! To be honest, I am not so sure if something else in the electrical system caused my tune up to go bad so fast! But for now my Healey is running smooth as silk and starts faster then my Nissan Murano! For how long i don't know?????

 

[Johnny]

Too bad you didn't replace items one at a time, Drambuie. Now you don't know what exactly failed. You could work backwards though and replace the components you now have in the car with those that are suspect, I'd start with the rotor.

Healey's ran fine for almost 50 years with a point type ignition, however, if you had a failure in the past you could stop anywhere and buy a new component. Now is not the case. And that's why I switched to a Pertronix system.

 

[drambuie]

I may have not explaned myself clearly, I did replace one item at a time, first the coil, then the rotor, condenser, cap and wires and lastly the points... Nothing worked untill i replaced every one of these parts with all my new spares! Im still scratching my head over this one... Last summer my brand new lucas sport coil burst wide open at 60 mph and sprayed oil all over my motor bay...with only 500 miles on it. I sent Moss motors pictures of it and they sent me a new replacement, However, before it arrived i installed a new Flame-thrower 3.0 Ohm high preformance coil in my Healey and put the new Lucas sport coil in my boot as a spare. I am beginning to wonder if the Flame- thrower coil caused my condenser and points to fail? I assumed the flame- thrower coil was for a ballasted ignition system? They advertise it is for all models. It was working fine for about 1,300 miles. I guess i will buy a new ohm meter and start checking each item. I am using the new lucas sports coil now. Everything is running great again. I dialed in the timing with my digital timing light at 15 degress advance and set the points at .016 I then drove the car for about 20 miles and checked the plugs, they where a nice light brown and burning nice and clean. The idle is nice and steady. I still want to get down to the bottom of this! I plan on some long distance trips to next spring and want to get things sorted out. Knowing what failed and why is my main concern now!

 

[red57]

Drambuie, now that it is running well try putting one of the old condensers back in as a test - several years ago I had very similar symptoms and it turned out to be bad condensers.

 

[drambuie]

Yes, I may try back tracking just to pin point the problem. I have to be honest, I have been bringing back british sports cars back from the dead for 23 years with out much of a problem, but this one really gave me fits. I may use a meter to test the condensers and coils output and resistance first. I kind of talked myself out of electronic flame-thrower for now and will just order some new tune-up spares and keep one of my good old coils handy in the boot just in case! As i was saying, I am preping the car for long distance road trips next spring to the Colorado mountains, South Dakota and maybe the Osh Gosh Wisconson air show. I think i am going to need more then 3000 miles from this last tune up!