autox-cm
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Great fuel mileage?

To: Mark Sirota <mark@sirota.org>, autox-cm@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Great fuel mileage?
From: Dick Rasmussen <rasmussend@mindspring.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 16:12:10 -0400
At 03:01 PM 6/16/2002 -0400, Mark Sirota wrote:
>--On Monday, June 03, 2002 10:33 PM -0400 Mark Sirota <mark@sirota.org>
>wrote:
> > It is a Microdynamics.  I figure maybe under years of vibration maybe the
> > potentiometer has slipped, or perhaps years of heat have finally toasted
> > the thing.
>
>As suggested, I've gone through the ignition system looking for anything
>that looks wrong, but everything looks fine -- most things (plugs, points,
>cap, rotor) look brand new, even though they're more than a season old now.
>
>The documentation that comes with the Microdynamics RL3 gives a detailed
>explanation in their troubleshooting guide of what might cause the rev limit
>to come in too soon, which they call "contact bount/multi-firing".  The
>explanation reads:
>
>

Mark,

Normally "bounce" in a points ignition is from points that don't have a 
strong enough spring. If the points are NOT the "Heavy Duty" Bosch points 
sold by Pegasus, etc then MAYBE the spring is no longer strong enough to 
keep the points from bouncing. Bounce is similar in concept to valve float 
. . . the spring starts oscillating because it can't keep up with the cam 
properly.

It is conceivable that the condenser/capacitor is bad also (theory . . . 
not know fact) since its purpose is to suppress the arcing that normally 
happens when making/breaking electrical contacts. If the capacitor lead has 
broken, then it can't do its job.

You could also have a bad connection somewhere in the system. Do a points 
resistance check (actually a voltage drop measurement) all the way from the 
battery to the positive side of the coil primary and then from the negative 
side of the coil primary to the points and on to the chassis ground. Wiggle 
wires:-) If you or your mechanic (if not you) don't know how to do this, 
try buying a multi meter from an auto parts store that has this capability 
. . . it will have instructions . . . which is how I learned.

Don't assume it isn't just a battery problem . . . batteries have been the 
problem for many FF racers.

Dick

///  unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net  or try
///  http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
///  Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/autox-cm


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>