post restoration shakedown and ignominy

[AHM]

Do the brake pads have anti squeal shims fitted?

[billwill]

The ballast resistor will get hot enough to melt the insulation, as mentioned in the workshop manual.

Alan.

Good point. But if all the heating & melting is normal, what stopped the car?

So, a mile from home we seemed to run out of petrol, a pal arrived with a can in 5 minutes and it wasn`t that. The engine would cough as it tried to start, so there must be a spark, and petrol was pumping through, but no go. Investigation at home showed a blue wire really hot connected to that thingy in the pic. attached to the coil, with the black wire attached to the other terminal. There is, now disconnected, a blue wire connected to the starter solenoid. Removing both wires and attaching the black straight to the coil and all is well.

Was it nothing to do with the ignition after all and the hot ballast resistor was a red herring?


I wonder why the BLUE wire was hot, that should not normally happen; even though you would be using it on every attempt to start the car. That's why I asked earlier which terminal of the starter solenoid it was connected to? If it was on the permanently live terminal the blue wire could get hot; the car ignition would effectively be permanently switched on. If it has points and the car at home was stopped with the distributor points closed, there would be permanent current down the blue wire through the coil through the points to earth. Which could make the blue wire hot; though I would expect the ignition coil to be even hotter.

An electric short from the base of the ballast resistor to the coil casing along with the blue wire being on the wrong connector, still seems the most likely fault to me. I have revised my earlier message:
lotus-talk-f50/post-restoration-shakedown-and-ignominy-t31670-15.html#p212230
to say that you should use a high temperature resistant insulation on the base of the ballast resistor.


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Actually re-reading the problem, it could have been a simple fuel vapour lock, except for the subsequent difficulty in starting.

[peterexpart]

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Actually re-reading the problem, it could have been a simple fuel vapour lock, except for the subsequent difficulty in starting.[/quote]

Just a thought, if car has had a recent rebuild did they replace the Petrol Filler Cap with the currently available type which is lockable ?? If so it would be worth checking that it has a breather / vent hole as mine did not and car had same problem until I drilled a new vent.

[jimj]

Clearly the blue wire was on the right connector as the car ran for 350 miles, but it`s not relevant now with a 12v coil and no ballast resistor. The car stopped because the insulation on the blue wire had melted and, presumably, shorted out, or maybe the ballast resistor had failed, it doesn`t matter now.
Jim

[billwill]

Clearly the blue wire was on the right connector as the car ran for 350 miles, but it`s not relevant now with a 12v coil and no ballast resistor. The car stopped because the insulation on the blue wire had melted and, presumably, shorted out, or maybe the ballast resistor had failed, it doesn`t matter now.
Jim

No the car would run with the blue wire on the wrong terminal i.e on the input to the ballast resistor but at start time it would not be getting the additional 3 volts.

As I explained before the car would run with the blue wire incorrectly on the always live terminal of the starter solenoid, but the ignition would be permanently on.

[theelanman]

I hoped to see your car Friday but you'd already collected it......anyway should you require the spring fix the spring is now with Tim......

[elansprint71]

Jim,
I'm having a similar problem with my Sprint since I renewed the Lumenition ignition unit, also fitted a new Lumenition coil and ballast resistor (following their instructions). I believe that I've burnt out the new coil because... having followed the instructions... the car would not start, so I bypassed the ballast resistor- started first time but after I'd run the engine for a while whilst I was setting up the timing I turned it off and had a brew. Tried to start it and - it would not fire- I did notice that the coil was bloody hot. Presumably I have a 9v coil but without the benefit of the 12v starting lead. The original Lumenition set-up did not have a ballast so, presumably, had a 12v coil.

I pushed the car into the garage and went away to develop new hobbies!

Where did you get the 12v coil from?

Cheers,
Pete.

[jimj]

Pete, I do wish you`d pay attention, I clearly stated that I got the 12v coil out of the boot where I`d put it, inside the spare wheel. If you`re running electronic ignition, and you don`t carry a spare you have to buy one specifically for that. I bought mine from G&T Motor spares near Gareth.
Gareth, Tim checked and the servo is fine so the brake pads have been abraded and the (yes AHM) anti squeal shims lubricated with copper slip.
Jim

[elansprint71]

Jim,
Any more spare coils in there? I hate to pay for things, Chapmanstyle.

Regarding your squealing brakes; as a time-served Tool-Maker I've always found that a good squirt of (Rocket) WD40 will quieten things down. Apart from the screams from passengers that is.

My servo went to the tip years ago and I fitted+2 front brakes. If I were to do this now, there would be much added lightness; those iron calipers are really hefty.

[englishmaninwales]

I can understand wanting to keep a car original, but removing the servo from mine is one of the best things I've done on the car. It was much better immediately, but fitting softer pads and a smaller bore/longer travel master cylinder has created brakes that feel so good I could never imagine going back to a servo. Besides, it's all easily reversible.

I have taken the servo out of my S3 as it was sticking on. Got to press hard on the brake so need to change at the least the pads, possibly the M/C. What pads did you change to and what is the detail on the M/C bore size?

Thanks
Malcolm

[adigra]

Hi Malcolm,

I changed to EBC Green Stuff pads, and drove like that for a couple of years before changing the M/C as the feel was greatly improved, but still required a firm push. I then changed to a .625 M/C and that made the brakes feel simply superb, with great feel and progression.

Regards,
Adi

[englishmaninwales]

Adi
Thanks
Malcolm