!976 S2, I just changed out my “constant energy” ignition for a new 123 and 3 ohm coil. I removed the old distributor and amp and connected the new stuff. There were two + coil wires, one white - the hot and another that I think goes to the starter relay. Anyway, without the second wire the engine runs very well and probably gets me back to 245 hp - a serious improvement. But the overdrive relay now has no power and weirdly, the brake lights are stuck on! When I connected the second coil wire everything went back to normal for a while and then repeat of problem. Has anyone experienced these Lucas ghost issues?
I think it’s just a coincidence.
Maybe you disturbed something when you did the work in your ignition.
They are completely separate circuits.
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As the S2 did not have the CE ignition - it was a PO conversion, Bpp…
The CE used the coil ‘+’ to power the CE ign amplifier, white wire. If you have chosen a different power source for the ‘123’ - this wire is redundant…
The O/D and brake light problem is likely a coincidence, as Aristides suggests. However; connecting the ‘spare’ coil ‘+’ wire to anything is fraught - it is always powered with ign ‘on’ and ‘crank’. Don’t connect it willy-nilly…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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Bpp (name?),
“… blame it on the boogie!” - the lyrics went, still quotable though …?
In this case I wouldn’t blame it on Lucas ghost issues, but - as Frank suggests - a PO ghost.
You might wish to track back all the wires to and from the CE ignition to first restore original condition before installing the 123 ignition following the specific instructions for SII cars.
The original coil (39) is connected white/black with the distributor (40), white/brown with the starter solenoid/ballast coil relay (194) and white/yellow with the ballast resistor (164).
The original distributor (40) would have been connected white/black with the ignition coil and white/slate/brown with the tachometer (95).
As Frank rightly pointed out - as long as you haven’t quite figured out what the PO did to make the CE ignition work, it is pretty hard to find out why you have a malfunctioning 123 ignition. As 123 ignitions can be fried fairly easily you should be pretty sure about how to hook it on …
Good luck - and tell us about your experiences with the advance curves!
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)