Have I 'fried' my Lucas Electronic Ignition ?

[BRMLotusElan]

I connected the battery up wrongly (incorrect polarity) to my Lucas electronic ignition....

Amplifier = AB14, coil = DLB198 & dizzy = 43DM4 (race type)

It will no longer start - what have I damaged ?


Dennis
www.brmlotuselan.com

[ecamiel]

Do you have a spark?
How much amperage is it drawing? 6 amps is blown.
Now here's the good news. Open it up and the inside is a cheep Delco part with part number on it.

Eric
64 S1

[BRMLotusElan]

Eric

Thanks for the info.There is no spark.

How do I check the amps? (Keep it simple!)

I assume you are refering to the AB14 "black box" when you say "open it up" (I know zero about electronic stuff!). Inside is a capacitor, a diode, possibly a tacho sensor unit and what may be the amplifier with leads to the dizzy.There is a code--(GM 613 3B18) on this unit is that the part you mean ?


Many thanks
Dennis

[Elanintheforest]

Dennis
Is your Lucas ignition the old Opus system by any chance? Does it look like the one in the picture? This was fitted to my Plus 2 in 1971 along with the BDA, and I'm hunting down some spares for it. They were used by Ford on the rally RS1600 Escorts, and were meant to be a bit unreliable...but mine's been fine for 38 years!

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I don't often see Lucas ignition systems being mentioned, and just wanted to see if you could confirm what my system is to refine my hunt...and maybe yours!

Mark

[neilsjuke]

If the diode is in the supply lead then you should not have damaged the unit with the incorrect polarity of the battary .if you have a rev limiter you may have upset that .
Neil

[BRMLotusElan]

Thanks for the helpful replies, especially Jeff. The problem may now be sorted.

Dennis