Hi All,
I've been hesitating to send this question because the symptoms are so
weird...it was too hard to explain. But now I'm ready to explain. I figure
that some of this relates to recent fuel/ignition issues that have been
discussed here, but the problem is taken to a new level. So here I go...but
first, some history.
About a month and a half back, my '70 Spitfire Mk3 (1296, Stromberg CD150,
stock ignition with Lucas Sport Coil) suffered a dash wiring fire. The wire
from the ignition switch to the coil burned up. I took apart the wiring
harness, replaced the offending wire, and inspected and repaired any other
affected wires. In addition, I wired in a 30-amp fuse in the wire between the
coil and the ignition switch. I also replaced the main battery negative
cable, as the original had been separating from the terminal. The replacement
cable was insulated, and I did not strip the insulation where the original
cable passed through the grounds connected to the starter solenoid.
This solved all problems related to the wiring fire, and the car ran great
for about 3 weeks, or up until 2 weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, I decided that the car was behaving well enough to drive to
work. I fired it up, everything was going fine. On a long downhill, I
approached a green light turning to yellow. I made it through the light
taking a sharp left at around 20mph. Right away, the car started stumbling,
getting progressively worse. It would idle fine, but upon acclerating, it
would start to buck and backfire badly. I decided to turn it around and go
home. By the time I reached my house -- about a mile and a half later -- it
would idle fine, but barely accelerate. It died a few times, but each time it
would restart and idle, but not accelerate. It finally died for good about 50
feet from my driveway.
The next day, I got it to start and run for about 4 seconds. Since then, I
haven't been able to get it to run.
Now to the weird stuff. After that final succesful-yet-brief attempt to get
the engine to run, it now does the following. Upon turning the ignition key,
the engine will crank for about 2 seconds, then suddenly reverse rotation,
puff air/gas out the carb, and then resume cranking in the correct direction.
But wait, it gets weirder.
I figured I might try replacing the coil as I thought that the reverse
rotation was the pistons filling with too much unignited gas/air mixture,
resulting in a "compression ignition" symptom like a diesel. I replaced the
Lucas Sport Coil with a regular replacement from the local Kragen. When I
tried starting the car with the new coil, not only did it do the reverse
rotation trick again, but when that happened, the positive terminal of the
battery shot out a spark straight up into the air -- not connecting to
anything metal, just sending a spark out into the blue. The coil was wired
correctly, and, of course, the engine still did not start.
I now have three vague theories on what may be wrong. One, bad ignition
switch from the original wiring fire that may be causing some weird grounding
issue in the ignition circuit. 2, bad battery. 3, bad voltage regulator. But
how would these tie into the inability to accelerate? Or am I barking up the
wrong tree? Please help!
Thanks!
Adam Rodnitzky
'70 Mk3
'94 Alfa Romeo 164LS
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