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TR2/3/3A The other shoe drops?

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DavidApp

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The TR3A started up like normal this morning to head out to our club meet up. It was a bit cold 40 degrees. Ran great all the way there but I did detect a hickup or two.
On the way back it started missing and back firing. Not wanting to keep going.
I found a safe place to get off the road and checked the float bowls were full.

Checked the plug leads and coil lead and everything looked good. It would start and run but as I tried to rev it up the revs would go up and splutter go up and splutter. Looked at the points which seemed OK but changed them anyway.
Back in business for about 2 miles then spluttering and backfiring.
Stopped again in another safe spot.
Having a spare condenser I changed that and so far it has run fine. T
The condenser is only 2500 miles old.

I need to replace my traveling spares. Also add a few things like a spare nut and screw for the points (try to find a nut for the distributer on the side of the road), a piece of wire for a jumper to hot wire if necessary and a light that clips on the battery in case that happened after dark.
Tools that I need to add are needle nose pliers and swop out the small socket set for a SAE set. Not much metric on the TR3
David
 
David - the symptoms you describe often indicate a failing coil. Try changing the coil and see if that clears the problem. It's a relatively easy way to check.

Tom M.
 
David.....I am with Tom on this one. Change the coil.
Wishing you good luck.... get back on those drives and enjoy your car!
Gil. NoCal
 
Good job David you are a trooper going to meeting and fixing a tr3 on the side of the road. That is what this hobby is about. I like the light idea and I started caring a coil after my last break down. Did you ever find the nut? I might add some of those also to my kit

steve
 
Nice trouble shooting. The fact the new points worked for a bit then died says the condenser was the problem.
 
For me the bad condensor sounds like the problem and fix. You were just lucky that the car did not totally quit. Mine did! The new condensor got me back on the road.
On my other TR4 I was using a electronic ignition (Crane) and had a similar situation where the car totally quit. With no condensor it was the coil.
Charley
 
I did not lose the nut as I changed the points but was very aware of the possibility. So far the new condenser seems to have the TR3A back to its old self.
The car did almost quit a few times but spluttered enough to get me off the road into a driveway. Several loud backfires.
I do not have a coil in my box of pares in the boot but may keep one handy.

David
 
When I read your original post, I immediately thought "ignition capacitor"! The ones available today are junk. I'm not surprised that one failed after 2300 miles.

I came across this on The Samba, which seems to me like a perfect solution. It is intended for VWs but should be fine on almost any car, since the capacitors are always in the range of 0.2-0.25 microfarads.
 
Familiar with the Distributor Doctor ?...I use his points, condenser and rotor.

Delco condenser: RD7774, CD369, 829111,829107,1861709,1866049,18655972, 1869704,1882239, Lucas Condenser 484249, 400308, 407044, 54411935 / DCB105, 54413006, 23D4 22D 23D DM2 25D DM6 DM4 lucas distributor, Lucas condenser number 423871, GDC101. Conde

Delco condenser: RD7774, CD369, 829111,829107,1861709,1866049,18655972, 1869704,1882239, Lucas Condenser 484249, 400308, 407044, 54411935 / DSB105, 54413006, 23D4 22D 23D DM2 25D DM6 DM4 lucas distributor, Lucas condenser number 423871, GDC101. Condensor 405833 for Ford 8 and Ford 10, Lucas...
www.distributordoctor.com
 
Sarastro said:
When I read your original post, I immediately thought "ignition capacitor"! The ones available today are junk. I'm not surprised that one failed after 2300 miles.

I came across this on The Samba, which seems to me like a perfect solution. It is intended for VWs but should be fine on almost any car, since the capacitors are always in the range of 0.2-0.25 microfarads.
Click to expand...
What would be the best place to mount this on a TR3 distributor? Not sure of the size....would it fit under the cap or somehow mounted externally?
 
You could mount it anywhere convenient. You just need one wire to an engine-block ground, and the other to the coil where the distributor connects. I think the size is about 1x2 inches.

I have something similar. I use an electronic unit, of my own design, with a polypropylene capacitor in the box. I mounted it on the body, inside the engine compartment, because its convenient. But you could put it elsewhere, out of sight, if desired. The length of the wires doesn't matter, as long as it's not ridiculous.

ign2_3552_sm.jpg
 
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