ACCUSPARK

[miked]

Anybody tried one of these distributors (or an ignition) from these guys. They are on Ebay and show the 23D4 remanufactured. Also a 43D type version.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Twin-Ca ... 27c13ee8e5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Twin-Ca ... 2c61736ac2

The price seems real good. Should the low cost put us off. I would think some of the usual suspects may buy from these. I did search in the forum and found nothing on the name.

Mike

[alexblack13]

Looks good Mike.. I would give them a try. I would at that price anyway..

FYI. I fitted the magnetronic system and it's so far been perfect. V easy to fit too and totally invisible. But you are getting a complete dizzy at that price too.. I think!

AB..

[miked]

Alex, I will have a chat with them this morning. I was out yesterday and have been running sweet as a nut. I had pinched the new 43D4 from the project car and been running the plus 2 on it. Still have a 2003 Luminition that came with the car. I bought the trigger for it. I need to investigate yet but on the way home I developed a pulsing "beat" effect. Car was pulsing very slightly against it's drive at steady throttle setting. For a moment I thought I had a drive train component gone. Also the tick over seems to have become less even. Definite cyclic surge going on. With throttle it will go well, but not as even as it did.

Need to check the obvious like the plugs and inside dizzy cap, rotor arm etc. Something silly. Dizzy and leads etc are new. I can't help thinking that the Luminition is the cause. I will try some points in and find out. My coil is over the magic 3.0 ohms. I have had Luminitions go on other cars, usually missing at 3000 RPM mark. Never bought one myself. Tacho's usually bounce when this happens, but this has not.

I think I will likely go for the 43D style for replacement for the project car. The caps and arm are much better with insulation than the 23D4 IMO. Also Accuspark make the same point.

Mike

[lynx]

Hi I have the Magnetronic system on my 1963 Elite Super 95. been on for a year, so far so good. also have a 1969 MGB, back in 1994 I fitted a Luminition system, have not touched it since, still perfect. my 1970 Elan still has points at the moment,not sure which to fit, as its not the best job getting under the carbs, or take them off. also my 1972 Fiat 600 has the Magnetronic system just fitted back in November, seems ok..... Ausper

[prloz]

Hi ausper,
I have a new old stock Lumenition Optronic Ignition System for sale if you're interested.
Never used. Still in original packaging.
Consists of PMA50 negative earth power module and FK101 fitting kit. Suits Lucas 22D4, 23D4 and 25D4 four cylinder anti-clockwise rotation distributors. AU$85.00 + AU$25.00
pack & post from OZ to U.K.
Regards,
Peter.

[miked]

I bit the bullet and ordered a fully dizzy and coil for the project car. Also got a separate electronic unit for the Plus 2. Will investigate my problem and report back. Will try the Accuspark in the 43D. Talking to them they have mainly dealt with the BMC market.

Cheers me up when I save a few bob. Just like the Autobush bushes. I can't fault them on the Plus 2

Mike

[alexblack13]

Brilliant!

Let us know how the dizzy goes..

I was walking past the wife's Boxtser which lives under the elan and noticed a drip of coolant on the hood. Problem was it was at the lotus's boot end!! Further investigation this morning revealed my 'stash' in the spare wheel well has leaked. Just a small amount as yet. Nicked it in the bud... All cleaned up now...

Phew!!

Happy new year to all ....

Al' .....

[lynx]

Hi Prloz. Peter. Will remember that you have Luminition units. am in Spain for the winter, back in the UK March. did you notice the OZ thing here. Ausper. ...a Formula Junior car. Australian Performance Cars. also bought a Lynx Formula Junior car both these cars come from OZ. built 1962/3. Ausper.

[petersracing]

Just got one of the distributors in the post. This one is for a 907 engine but some points(haha) apply. It is ridiculous what you can get for no money but there are a number of issues on this one. The wire routing inside is poor so I stripped the earth wire out and moved the two wires from the hall effect block to a more natural route where they were not rubbing on the sharp metal edge of the earth lead. That was clearly a latent failure. Also there were flashings and eccentricity on the rotor/magnet piece. The plastic on this is quite eccentric so rather than open the gap (it would be a couple of mm on one side once it cleared) I filed down the magnet block where it was touching until it rotated cleanly. I also changed the strain relief on the two trigger wires as they could have withdrawn into the dizzy to the point where they touched moving parts. The spring clips are a little sharp on the ends where they are retained and won't splay out when you take the cap off. I'll strip and fettle them next.

This is I guess what you should expect on something so complex that costs so little, someone assembled this for less than a dollar I guess. I reckon its still brilliant value but be prepared to strip and blueprint it to make it nice and reliable.

[Baggy2]

Hi - I also bought a distributor from an ebay seller - powerspark rather than accuspark but I had a similar experience. The blade on the rotor arm hit some of the electrodes in the distributor cap and the end float on the shaft was huge. It also came with a straight up dizzy cap rather than side entry. When fitted to the car it was sometimes got in a state where it was continually causing a spark whether the engine was turning or not. The guy was helpful and returned my money without quibble but my confidence was damaged. These lower cost suppliers are fairly new on the scene and I guess they will get it right in time so dont expect too much and you wont be disappointed.

[miked]

My Dizzy arrived . 43D, also a coil and separate Accuspark ignition.

I have a relatively new 43 Lucas Dizzy so had it and the above together side by side. I fitted the separate Accuspark in the Lucas one. Lucas was about ?130 around five years ago from one of the usual suspect (with points in). I also open up and examined both.

Dizzy from Accuspark is very nice. End float fine, Quality looks fine. All washers, locking washers, clips fine. Only comment was that little earth wire for the base plate was sitting up near the sensor wire. Same bent down and repositioned. The actual build of it looks like it has had more care than the Lucas one.

Lucas has washers and spring washer missing, side clip screws at an angle. No felt pad for oil in the neck. Also the heavier spring for the bob weights looked adjusted at an angle (screw driver tweak). The Accuspark dizzy weights looked fine with a smooth movement and the springs sit well. Looks right.

Overall I can't fault the Accuspark dizzy. Nice piece of kit. I will not be running it for a while yet as it goes into the project car. I had a bit of problem retrofitting the Accuspark into the Lucas dizzy as the base plate sits lower than on the Accuspark 43D. This renders the pick sensor too low for the magnetic centre piece. Cured simply by putting a small nut under each side which put the pick up and centre in line. Heat glue is a bit messy as they tell you to use the entire packet. I suppose this is idiot proof, sure that less would do.

I will be trying this Lucas Dizzy with the Accuspark on the Plus 2 so will report back about the ignition.

PS the Accuspark dizzy casting looks identical save Lucas cast in. The base plate arrangement looks enhanced.

Mike

[miked]

I ran the car on the Accuspark unit for about 600 miles and it was very good. During the hotish spell we had at end of March. Fully loaded on a 7 day holiday run. Me and the wife. Never misssed a beat. I actually removed it as a suspect component when chasing a fault after buying a set of Weber 151's to change out my 31's. I know they say go for the last thing you changed but having lived with Elans for a while this does not always hold true.

The problem was the carbs, although jetted the same as the 31's they did not behave the same. I created a big hole/hesitation that for the life of me felt like an electrical issue. The outcome was to do the Lotus thing of dropping to 30mm Chokes and 115 mains and 200 air correctors. Job done, running great. Went the route of idle jet increase. It helped but this is better.

So the Accuspark was not to blame. I would say that you need to be careful with the fitting. The lack of heat conductive paste is death to these. I spoke to the guys who sell them who were very helpful. He said to send it back for a new replacement one. He did say that if it is a fault that develops with heat to use a spray of plumbers pipe freeze spray on the module (to chill it). If it stops the fault it is breaking down and need to comes out. He said they get them from time to time.

I searched the net for feedback about the unit. There seems quite a bit of negative but saying that you can find the same with most ignitions systems. People dont post praise. So I would say it is not a conclusive result to condem it on the posted failed ones.

So if you get one use the whole packet of heat paste as the instructions say so that there is total contact from the module to the base plate.

I will be keeping it as a spare for the S4FC that has one fitted (not run yet). I have bought a new Lumenition module for my optical trigger so that can go back.

PS While heat is the potential killer I will not be using the Classic Leman trip as a test bed for the Accuspark. The temperatures in 2010 were up there!

Mike

[UAB807F]

Good feedback post Mike.

What's caught my eye is your comment on heat paste, I assume is this used between the dizzy mounting plate and the unit ? What's intrigued me is that I have a pertronix set-up which looks visually similar and I don't recall any mention of using any heat conducting paste to mount it, and in fact mine is just bolted in place. The comments about potential heat damage do make sense, so I'm wondering now if I should pull it out & re-seat it with some of the silver paste left over from assembling my PC CPU. What do other folks do ?

Brian

[vernon.taylor]

Salut

Has anyone had similar problems with the Aldon unit? Does it require heat paste, too?

There's also a similar Lucas item for the 45D on eBbay.

@+

Vernon