I appears that I’ve figured out what was wrong with my car,
which had basically stopped running. Replacing the spark
wires and ditching the Champion caps had a positive effect,
at least allowing the car to idle without the choke, but the
car still missed on one cylinder, and the spark plugs were
getting coked up. The car has even compression.
Problem seems to be related to the 123 distributor I fitted
to the car when I rebuilt it. After running out of ideas
short of major surgery, I decided to swap the 123 for the
Lucas dizzy I kept on the shelf, and the car runs well, and
cleanly on all 6 cylinders. After running the car hard for
about an hour, the plugs look good. On the 123, I had
noticed some play in the rotor shaft, and I think what was
happening was that the rotor wasn’t spinning evenly, causing
an erratic spark.
I’ve notified the fine folks who produce the 123 of the
problem, and they have been responsive, so I’m confident if
there is a problem with the particular unit I have, it will
be addressed. I’m not writing this thread as a criticism of
the 123 or the company that makes it, I see it as simply a
repair issue there, like can happen with any product. But
since this seemed to be a very strange problem with the car,
with many possible solution paths offered by you all, I
thought it worth describing what seems to have caused (and
fixed) the problem, at least for now–
Kevin Kemper
Auburn, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Kevin Kemper sent Sat 24 Jan 2009:
Kevin:
Somewhere in my 60+ years of abussing and fixing cars of all
specie, I learned, ‘‘good is not spelled NEW’’.
Most will be nterested in the response by the 123 folks. It seems
to me that the correct response would be the immediate shipment to
you of a new unit on receipt of the failed unit, with shipping paid
both ways.
Carl–
The original message included these comments:
I appears that I’ve figured out what was wrong with my car,
which had basically stopped running. Replacing the spark
wires and ditching the Champion caps had a positive effect,
at least allowing the car to idle without the choke, but the
car still missed on one cylinder, and the spark plugs were
getting coked up. The car has even compression.
Problem seems to be related to the 123 distributor I fitted
to the car when I rebuilt it. After running out of ideas
short of major surgery, I decided to swap the 123 for the
Lucas dizzy I kept on the shelf, and the car runs well, and
cleanly on all 6 cylinders. After running the car hard for
–
Carl Hutchins 1983 Jaguar XJ6 with LT1 and 1994 Jeep Grand
Walnut Creek, California, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
I just remembered something…
You might have a hairline crack in the dist. cap, and not be able to see it Although unusual, it has happened to me a couple times. The car will misfire and/or not run on one cylinder.
LLoyd–
Insofar as mathematics applies to
reality it is not certain, and
so far as mathematics is certain
it does not apply to reality.
Einstein
-------------- Original message ----------------------
–
The original message included these comments:
I appears that I’ve figured out what was wrong with my car,
which had basically stopped running. Replacing the spark
wires and ditching the Champion caps had a positive effect,
at least allowing the car to idle without the choke, but the
car still missed on one cylinder, and the spark plugs were
getting coked up. The car has even compression.
Problem seems to be related to the 123 distributor I fitted
to the car when I rebuilt it. After running out of ideas
short of major surgery, I decided to swap the 123 for the
Lucas dizzy I kept on the shelf, and the car runs well, and
cleanly on all 6 cylinders. After running the car hard for
Interesting, Glenn had similar issues if IRC. Ray, when are the EDIS
kits going to be available?
Cheers,
LynnOn Jan 23, 2009, at 10:16 PM, Kevin Kemper wrote:
Problem seems to be related to the 123 distributor I fitted
to the car when I rebuilt it.
Kevin,
Assuming that the 123 was a new unit, a person would have to question their quality control.
Larry— On Fri, 1/23/09, Kevin Kemper kmkemper@sbcglobal.net wrote:
From: Kevin Kemper kmkemper@sbcglobal.net
Subject: [E-Type] Spontaneous Non-Combustion solved?
To: e-type@jag-lovers.org
Date: Friday, January 23, 2009, 9:16 PM
I appears that I’ve figured out what was wrong with my
car,
which had basically stopped running. Replacing the spark
wires and ditching the Champion caps had a positive effect,
at least allowing the car to idle without the choke, but
the
car still missed on one cylinder, and the spark plugs were
getting coked up. The car has even compression.
Problem seems to be related to the 123 distributor I fitted
to the car when I rebuilt it. After running out of ideas
short of major surgery, I decided to swap the 123 for the
Lucas dizzy I kept on the shelf, and the car runs well, and
cleanly on all 6 cylinders. After running the car hard for
about an hour, the plugs look good. On the 123, I had
noticed some play in the rotor shaft, and I think what was
happening was that the rotor wasn’t spinning evenly,
causing
an erratic spark.
I’ve notified the fine folks who produce the 123 of the
problem, and they have been responsive, so I’m
confident if
there is a problem with the particular unit I have, it will
be addressed. I’m not writing this thread as a
criticism of
the 123 or the company that makes it, I see it as simply a
repair issue there, like can happen with any product. But
since this seemed to be a very strange problem with the
car,
with many possible solution paths offered by you all, I
thought it worth describing what seems to have caused (and
fixed) the problem, at least for now
Kevin Kemper
Auburn, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM
[forums.jag-lovers.org]–
In reply to a message from Kevin Kemper sent Sat 24 Jan 2009:
My 123 seized within 5 miles and before I could report the fact I
was actually contacted by the seller who was chasing down a faulty
batch. Maybe yours was one of that batch.
I don’t know how many have been sold but given they make units for
all manner of cars it must be many thousands by now. Not
necessarily a huge indictment of their QC and how they react to
problems will be the true test of their worth. They sent me a new
unit quickly, plus a bottom end gasket set to look inside and
examine the drive gear.–
68 E-type OTS, 94 X300 Sovereign, 94 XJR 5-speed
Cambridge, United Kingdom
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
It seem that I remember some sage or another of this august list
proffering the “first place to look (when troubleshooting) is the last
thing you did (or added) to the car”.
In reply to a message from Brian Ternamian sent Sat 24 Jan 2009:
It’s true, the best rule of trouble shooting is to start
with the most recent ‘‘fix’’ and work backwards. In my case,
I put the entire car together before it ran, thus making the
problem difficult to trace. The 123 was installed as part
of the overall rebuild, and the car did run when finally
completed last August. I agree with Peter, if there is a
problem with my 123 unit, it is probably unique to my unit,
and the 123 folks have responded to my queries. I’ll gladly
report to the forum my experiences with the 123, which I
expect to be good once the issue is resolved. And if not,
well, there is always Petronix, or Mallory, or even the old
Lucas, which seems to be soldiering on.–
Kevin Kemper
Auburn, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
It is good when a manufacturer/supplier stands behind their products, but wouldn’t it be better if they had decent QC to begin with? A defective distributor is very easy to replace, but there are a whole lot of other parts in an E-type that aren’t.
Larry— On Sat, 1/24/09, Kevin Kemper kmkemper@sbcglobal.net wrote:
From: Kevin Kemper kmkemper@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Re: [E-Type] Spontaneous Non-Combustion solved?
To: e-type@jag-lovers.org
Date: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 3:22 PM
In reply to a message from Brian Ternamian sent Sat 24 Jan
2009:
It’s true, the best rule of trouble shooting is to
start
with the most recent ‘‘fix’’ and work
backwards. In my case,
I put the entire car together before it ran, thus making
the
problem difficult to trace. The 123 was installed as part
of the overall rebuild, and the car did run when finally
completed last August. I agree with Peter, if there is a
problem with my 123 unit, it is probably unique to my unit,
and the 123 folks have responded to my queries. I’ll
gladly
report to the forum my experiences with the 123, which I
expect to be good once the issue is resolved. And if not,
well, there is always Petronix, or Mallory, or even the old
Lucas, which seems to be soldiering on.
Kevin Kemper
Auburn, CA, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM
[forums.jag-lovers.org]–
