E60 Disappointment

[Ian Cooke]

Apologies for the misleading title. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday at the E60 celebrations and our thanks and congratulations go to Philip and his team.

Our disappointment stems from the fact that whilst we were at E60, our Etype was not!

Our plan was to spend Friday night at a nearby Airbnb so that we would arrive nice and early at Shelsey Walsh on Saturday ready to enjoy a full day. We left home near Portsmouth late Friday afternoon and had driven for about an hour when out of the blue the engine lost power very quickly, stuttered a couple of times and died. We were on the A34 dual carriageway and I managed to pull over onto the grass verge, tried to restart the engine to no avail and because of our proximity to fast moving traffic decided that we should get out of the car and to a place of safety behind a nearby barrier.

It took an hour for our recovery people to reach us and the mechanic quickly concluded that the priority was to get us and the car loaded up and off the dual carriageway which meant taking us back home. So, three hours after leaving, we were back where we started and to rub salt in wound, the car started and ran smoothly once she had been unloaded!

Not wanting to risk another breakdown (there is a limit to my wife's patience) we switched to our modern, reliable Jaguar and drove to Shelsey Walsh early Saturday morning.

Whilst I still love my E (just), I have little understanding of what goes on under the bonnet and would appreciate any thoughts on what the problem could be. The breakdown mechanic thought that it was likely to be an overheating coil as it was still warm when we got home. Is there a way of testing the coil to establish if that's where the problem lies or anything else I can do to isolate the problem?

Any thoughts and advice is much appreciated.

Ian

[christopher storey]

Ian : it could be an overheating coil, which is quite common if for example an electronic ignition unit has been fitted but the coil is not suitable for it. However, the symptoms also closely correspond with a defective rotor arm . Too many of these have plastic which becomes conductive when hot thus earthing the HT voltage via the distributor drive shaft

The distributor doctor sells proper DD Red rotor arms which eliminate this problem

[Ian Cooke]

Many thanks Christopher.

The coil and electronic ignition unit have been on the car for at least six years so I don't think that the problem will be a lack of compatability.

I will try a new coil and rotor arm from the Distributor Doctor and hope that solves the problem.

Ian

[rswaffie]

Possibly a fuel delivery issue? Crud in the fuel line?

[caveman]

As Christopher mentions, OEM Lucas rotor arm gave up on mine when warm with very similar results. Red rotor arms from Distributor Doctor sorted me many years ago and not looked back. Always carry a spare too as they’re simple to change out.
Make sure you have a fuel filter in your glass bowl too. So many don’t have them (mine also after restoration) but again, simple to fit and not too expensive.

[Ian Cooke]

Many thanks Steve

The car is currently with Keith at K & N Classics in Bosham who is replacing the old Petronix distributor, which had apparently failed, with a new 123 distributor.

Hopefully this will solve the problem and I won't suffer any of the issues with 123s that some others have reported.

Good point about the fuel filter which I replaced with a new one last year.

Ian

[AshM]

I can only speak as I find Ian. 123 on my S2 for a number of years now. Never a hint of an issue and is an instant starter when very hot.

Plus restored distributor in the boot as a back up.

[Gfhug]

I can only speak as I find Ian. 123 on my S2 for a number of years now. Never a hint of an issue and is an instant starter when very hot.

Plus restored distributor in the boot as a back up.

Ash, can I ask which version of 123 and which settings you use, please?

Thanks

Geoff

[AshM]

Hi Geoff

The 123 is the original model which has the setting adjustment on the body of the unit. You have to remove it to change the setting.

I will need to check my records to see if I can recall what the setting is.

Will revert.

Cheers
Ash