I am not an expert, but when I went looking for a Spitfire, I went to a
local expert for some lessons on how to check one out before buying. I
think I remember him telling me that on some later models with the factory
electronic ignition,(which due to Lucas Logic, is located on the side of the
distributor), is affected by engine heat. Evidently , the heat can cause
the diodes to temporally malfunction. The key words I remember him telling
me is that at this point, "the car acts as if it has run out of gas" and
that "after it cools you can start it and drive as if nothing happened."
When you lowered the setpoint for your cooling system this probably helped
quite a bit. but the problem will never be completely solved until you move
the ignition off the distributor. This probably means buying an after
market ignition like an Allison ( or whoever bought Allison) and mounting it
on the fire wall.
Has anyone else heard of this? I got this bit of info from a man who has
restored Triumphs for a living for over twenty years. I must say that I
trust him, and through restoring my own Spit, have become very good friends
with him.
Jeffrey B. Williams
1973 Spitfire FM1694U
Soon to be yello with black interior
jeffrey.williams@mci2000.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Tharp <kthinc@dwx.com>
To: spitfires@autox.team.net <spitfires@Autox.Team.Net>
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 12:43 AM
Subject: my car stopped...
>Listers,
>
>I had something happen on Sunday that I am at a loss to diagnose. I'm
>hoping someone on the list has experienced this before and will know in
>what direction I should look.
>
>On Sunday, I was driving my 79 Spitfire on some back highways. I had
>driven about 30 miles, so the car was good & warmed up. Suddenly, the
>engine coughed a little. It kicked back in, and I was able to drive 1/4
>mile farther before I slowly lost power. It was as if I had run out of
>gasoline, but I had plenty. I sat by the side of the road for a few
>minutes, re-started the car, drove just a few hundred feet, and lost
>power again. This happened two or three more times, and I was pretty
>convinced I was going to have to call my wife to bail me out. I sat for
>another few minutes, re-started the car, and everything was fine. I
>drove it home with no further problems.
>
>This past June, I had similar problems. The fuel pump was replaced at
>that time, and I put in a 160 degree thermostat to attempt to get the
>water temperature down (which helped, by the way). My mechanic and I
>thought we had solved the problem, particularly since it had been over
>three months since experiencing any problems. Now, however, it's deja vu
>all over again. The only difference between yesterday's problems and the
>problems in June was that I was able to drive the car the 30 miles home;
>in June, even when I let it sit overnight where it stalled, I couldn't
>get it to run more than a few hundred feet before losing power the next
>morning.
>
>Help! Needless to say, any type of long trip is out of the question
>until this problem is solved! Thanks for any input on this.
>--
>Ken Tharp
>79 Spitfire 1500
>West Des Moines, IA
>
>
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