Thank you all in advance for your insights. Once again, the only
time I contribute is when I need something…
Anyway, after sorting through too radical camshafts and non-needed
rope seals on my 3 year engine, all syncro suspension rebuild of my
3.8 roadster, I had a glorius spring and summer driving season. The
car ran fantastic until…
Progressive ignition failure due to eliminating the recommended
ballast resistor for my Mallory dual point/coil setup. Replaced
cap, rotor, points, condenser and break in spark plugs for good
measure. The car runs great except now for a very slight miss, more
pronounced after warmup, throught rev range (particulary 2500-
3000). The only telltale of something awry is a gray/blackening
discoloration on the rotor and internal lugs of the distributor cap
after 20-30 miles of running, as if heat/arcing is going on in the
cap. In three different conversations with the Mallory help line, I
have gathered that in their opinion, my Magnecor 7mm wires (new
too) run way too much resistance at 5k ohm/ft (they ohm well with a
meter), thus creating too much heat in the cap. I’m interested in
anyone’s thoughts, opinions, experiences. I hate to sucumb to going
to a independant with a scope at $81./hr. here in Northern Virginia,
but I’ve spent two weeks of nights and cannot isolate the problem.
Things checked/eliminated: gap/dwell, timing/advance, carbs/adj.
Thanks for help with this Thanksgiving puzzler!–
Chuck Stone
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Chuck Stone sent Mon 22 Nov 2004:
Chuck, I had a problem with the Mallory Dual Point on my
'71s2 OTS a couple of years ago. It turned out to be the
condenser not being properly grounded. I understand this is
a fairly common problem because it is very difficult to get
the connection tight without removing the distributor. There
could also be issues with having the right sized condenser.
There have been sevral discussions over the years on this
list regarding problems with Mallory distributors so I would
check the archives.
BTW, I finally got so sick of mine --(after fixing the
condenser issue the car ran ok for a while but then
gradually started to get worse again–I found that the dwell
was all over the place when I revved the car) I gave up and
put in a Lucas with a Pertronix. One of the best moves I
have made after all the aggravation the Mallory caused.
BTW, my car started to miss around 2500 - 3000 rpm when the
dwell started to become unstable. You might want to check
the stabilty of the dwell over a range of rpms just to check
that you are OK there.
Good luck!–
The original message included these comments:
Progressive ignition failure due to eliminating the recommended
ballast resistor for my Mallory dual point/coil setup. Replaced
cap, rotor, points, condenser and break in spark plugs for good
measure. The car runs great except now for a very slight miss, more
pronounced after warmup, throught rev range (particulary 2500-
–
Ray Sharp… '61FHC & '71S2OTS
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Chuck Stone sent Mon 22 Nov 2004:
Chuck,
Seems like I recall we had one or two people a while back who’d
had several consecutive Mallory condensors fail in very short
order. Mallory quality seems to be very poor lately. I believe CJ
has stopped carrying Mallory because of all the quality problems
and failures they’ve had with them.–
Ray Livingston - '64 OTS Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Chuck Stone sent Mon 22 Nov 2004:
Thanks Ray(s)! and Happy Thanksgiving!
I’ve already practically ground off the brass looking finish on the
condenser to get a good ground. I’m starting to question the
Mallory quality issues given their consolidation under the Mr.
Gasket banner along with Hayes, Accel and every other signifigant
American tuning company…
I’ll recheck the dwell at different rpm ranges when I get back to
D.C. this week end and report back.
I guess it’s a good thing I still have my Lucas 26B in a zip lock
bag on the shelf…–
Chuck Stone
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Chuck Stone sent Fri 26 Nov 2004:
Hi Chuck,
If there is any question about your Mallory dual point, I
would strongly consider just putting back your Lucas,
assuming it works OK (maybe with new points and condenser)
and see if that solves the problem. Assuming it does you
could then consider putting in a Pertronix electronic
ignition, which is a terrific, inexpensive upgrade for the
Lucas.
BTW are you sure your Lucas isn’t a 22 D6? I’m not
conversant with the 26B (the only other model number I
remember is the DMBZ6A – which was used in the early cars. )
All the best (from the New Jersey Ray)
PS All the best also to the other Ray (California)!–
The original message included these comments:
In reply to a message from Chuck Stone sent Mon 22 Nov 2004:
I’ve already practically ground off the brass looking finish on the
condenser to get a good ground. I’m starting to question the
Mallory quality issues given their consolidation under the Mr.
Gasket banner along with Hayes, Accel and every other signifigant
American tuning company…
I guess it’s a good thing I still have my Lucas 26B in a zip lock
bag on the shelf…
–
Ray Sharp… '61FHC & '71S2OTS
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Ray sent Fri 26 Nov 2004:
I’m sure your right on the model number Ray, I pulled that one off
the top of my head. The one I have is the original with no shaft
play and 73K original miles on it. I imagine there will be a
Mallory dual point setup for sale in the near future should the
Lucas solve the problem.–
Chuck Stone
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–