> I have a Lucas DM series electronic distributor on my car's engine with a
> combined coil and ignition pack. I've recently fitted a new coil HT
> lead
> and the distributor cap and rotor arm have less than 10,000 miles on
> them.
> The car starts first time and runs great for about 10 minutes and then
> completely cuts out. After doing nothing for a few minutes the engine
> will
> start first time and run for an hour or longer with no problem
> whatsoever.
> The engine is new and being run in so I have no idea of what rpm ignition
> performance is like but I don't suspect the coil is at fault. I don't
> suspect the ignition system is at fault as when the previous unit failed
> it never
> cut out but suffered instead, high rpm rough running.
> It's possible the distributor pick up might be failing but I don't
> understand why there is such a seemingly perfect recovery after an
> absolute
> failure.
I have had a distributor pickup in my 1987 Plymouth Duster 2.2 fail exactly
in this manner. It is a temperature-related failure. Please realize that
when it dies completely (as it probably will eventually), the car is dead
unless you have a spare dizzy with you. I got lucky with mine. I was still
trying to figure out the cause (difficult to do when I had roughly 2 minutes
to diagnose it each time) when it did it twice in rush hour traffic in the
Chicago Loop section of the Kennedy Expressway (misnomer if ever there was).
Fortuantely, the first time was just as the shoulder was about to disappear
and the second was just when the shoulder re-appeared. Thank goodness! I did
make it home and the next morning, in my very own driveway, the thing
refused to start at all. Better to be lucky than good.
Anyhow, as far as diagnosis, I would say that, if the tach falls immediately
to 0, it is in the dizzy. If it keeps a reading while the engine is still
turning, it is most likely to be the coil.
Please note that I have made no Lucas jokes whatsoever. The effort is
killing me.
David Lieb
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