New Owner, First Day Out Woes

[BKC-USA]

Greetings all,

I’m a new owner of a 1969 OTS. I purchased it as a running solid fixer-upper. Today was my first test drive out. I kept my expectations low, driving around near home, and planned for the possibility of having to flatbed it home.

I kept my eyes on the oil pressure and water temp. Timing was off but otherwise it seemed to pull strong and run ok. About two miles in I decided to stop for a little fuel as the fuel light just came on. I added a few gallons and started off again, but quickly noticed water temp had spiked. I immediately shut off the engine … it popped/ran on for a few seconds then stopped. Darn. After a bit of waiting I decided to make another go and try to get back home. Too much traffic in town, so any air cooling wasn’t happening. I pulled over when the temp started to spike again. Raised the hood and waited again. From that point forward it wouldn’t start.

There’s power, it cranks, but it appears both the cooling fans and fuel pump have no power. I’ve checked fuses and a bit of ugly loose wiring behind the ignition key. No luck. After a few hours of head scratching I called the flatbed … 1 mile from home.

I don’t have a service manual yet, so I’m flying blind on a repair approach. I could use some methodical guidance on where to go from here. Any help greatly appreciated.

Sincere thanks in advance.

[Gfhug]

Brian, welcome to the best place for all things E Type and sorry to hear of your problems.
Buy yourself the owners workshop manual NOW! But in the meantime all the information is available in the knowledge section.
Checking the fuses and how well they sit in their contacts could be a good start. The otter switch for the fans may be giving you one of your problems. Look up Coolcats (in the US) and you can find a modern updated replacement. Try checking if the fans are working by by-passing the otter switch.
Also, if your car started then the fuel pump must have been working. Can you hear it when you turn the ignition on?
There is so much information here and a search will find most of the solutions to problems, but posting on here can often bring up suggestions below as a start.

Good luck

Geoff

[BKC-USA]

Welp, a quick change of fate and symptoms… I went out to check the fuel pump, and I heard it pressurize. Gave it a go, turned the starter, and it’s running.

So I would think I have a heat-related electrical problem (?). Not going anywhere away from home until I figure out what’s going on.

Again, guidance appreciated.

Thanks all.

[BKC-USA]

Brian, welcome to the best place for all things E Type...

Thanks for the warm welcome Geoff. A service manual is incoming. I will be pouring through the knowledge section today.

I should clarify that the second time I went to start after fueling up the motor would crank, would sound like it was turning over, but would not respond to any throttle. I was certain it wasn’t getting fuel, but perhaps incorrectly assumed the fuel pump lost power.

[christopher storey]

Breaking down when hot is very often caused by an aftermarket rotor arm in the distributor. These tend to become conductive when hot and thus short out the HT spark. You can usually effect a temproary fix by putting a few layers of clingfilm between the rotor and the centre shaft , but as a permanent cure good ones can be obtained from the Distributor Doctor in UK . Assuming you still have the SU fuel pump ( tick, tick, tick ) failure is very rare

[BKC-USA]

Breaking down when hot is very often caused by an aftermarket rotor arm in the distributor.

Sorry, I should note that a Flamethrower electronic ignition was fitted.

[Gfhug]

Brian, a couple of things. Please do not use quotes too much as they use up valuable server space. If you need to then edit down to the pertinent words. Also, please edit your user profile to include your name and car type. Not needed right now but in future it’ll mean we know who you are and answers can be specific to your car.

And don’t worry about gradually adding more comments to define your problem, that’s the nature of the beast.

A return to the old distributor could be a good start as you’ll have a known system and there’s far more knowledge and experience about them.

Keep us posted and ask away

Geoff

[BKC-USA]

Brian, a couple of things. Please do not use quotes too much

Noted. Edited my previous quotes.

So to sum up/clarify symptoms and approach:

I appear to have some electrical issues. Fans stopped running, Fuel pressure may have dropped/stopped, and tachometer stopped (forgot to mention that one). All pretty much at the same time. After a long cooling off I was able to restart again.

Going to focus on correcting timing, bypassing otter switch, cleaning/testing fuses and holders, and cleaning up the messy ignition switch wiring.

[christopher storey]

The fact you have a flamethrower rather than points does not affect the potential rotor arm problem . However, the other failures are significant, and point more to a low tension side problem

[BKC-USA]

The fact you have a flamethrower rather than points does not affect the potential rotor arm problem . However, the other failures are significant, and point more to a low tension side problem

Thanks Christopher. You're right. Probably best to just replace cap and rotor.

I'll add that I started it again this morning after cleaning the otter switch contacts. Ran for <10 minutes with water temp reaching 1/2 way (normal) ... then the engine just sputtered and cut out. Fan kicked on though.

[Gfhug]

Could it be the coil getting hot? Not expensive and worth swapping, though get a good one.

Geoff

[BKC-USA]

I think I found the root cause ... the connections to the ballast resistor were significantly corroded/oxidized.

Connections all cleaned up, along with those of the otter switch to address the fans cutting out, and initial tests seem to be good.

Cap, rotor, and coil appeared new, though probably installed many years ago ... the Jag was driven all of 500 miles in the last 15 years.

[hpage66]

Congratulations on your new Series 2!

When you get everything sorted out, the two best mods to my 1970 Series 2 were the "Strangleberg fix" (applicable to 1969? See Jag-lovers forum) and an A123 ignition. Enjoy!

Howard

[BKC-USA]

Thanks Howard!