The saga continues. The electronic kit is fitted to the distributor & now the starter is playing up! (See new post). Try it on the handle to check for a spark... Although new engine mounts were fitted last year & the Starting handle fitted...it now will not engage sufficiently into the crank dog! So something has moved!
I'm going on holiday...it will wait
12hp Tourer #110 (the blue one)
Re: 12hp Tourer #110 (the blue one)
Quick update. I replaced the distributor plate with the one fitted to the original distributor (that I replaced with the Lucas B90 unused one and that seemed to cause the condenser/coil problem)
Guess what… immediately started and has worked ever since…touch wood no coil overheating
I will measure the dimensions inside the distributor so the electronic kit supplier can work out why theirs did not fit! I am still keen to go electronic…
Planning to take the car to the Rallye de Fougeres in Brittany in June 2026
D
Guess what… immediately started and has worked ever since…touch wood no coil overheating
I will measure the dimensions inside the distributor so the electronic kit supplier can work out why theirs did not fit! I am still keen to go electronic…
Planning to take the car to the Rallye de Fougeres in Brittany in June 2026
D
Re: 12hp Tourer #110 (the blue one)
Dear David,
I have been thinking on and off about your ignition related queries. The question I ask myself a lot about the older car and newer technology is : Why did the old technology work for so many miles in the past yet fails today? Reading through old Freewheels there were stories of people with cars which had done well over 200,000 miles with long distance regular drives yet today stumbling from milepost to milepost is our lot with some cars.
That's the scene setting. Now for the bit that might matter. Two separate issues. Distributor failings and coil overheating.
1) In the dark, with the ignition on and the cap off the distributor, flicking the points showed flashes other than at the points. The trouble, on the DKY type distributor and it's six cylinder companion, lay in the plastic insulator for the coil lead connection through the metal loop in the baseplate and also in the insulating material which should be under the square headed bolt. These can be made new out of acetal rod and insulating sheet material. The originals are degrading with time. The same applies to the plastic saddle on the six cylinder version and even if it looks all right in the passing, one of the two securing lugs may be found to have broken.
It can also be the case that the insulating washer which should be between the base of the points and the moving part is not insulating, possibly oil soaked. There can also be discrepancies in the dimensions of these parts and, once fitted, the two contacts need to be checked to see that they are meeting each other centrally and not squint as this can lead to a short.
Of course, in fitting electronic ignition, many of these parts are removed but it is my (possibly mistaken) belief that while electronic ignition provided a cure , it is unidentified failings in the old (and sometimes new) components that are the real trouble. The failed plastic insulators I have also found in new old stock components, time not wear being the key factor.
2) Overheating coil. This may well have nothing to do with your problem but I thought it worth mentioning. I had two coils which appeared to overheat and fail. I was puzzled as to why this should happen on the one car and I should have put two and two together sooner. In an ideal world we would have on our dashboards an ammeter and a voltmeter but fortunately,with a prefitted ammeter, fitting a voltmeter is a simple matter. Our friends in the Far East make voltmeters combined with USB connections for around £5 to fit into 12v sockets. The ammeter may be showing only a few amps but the voltmeter may show 15 or 16 amps, particularly with an 'out of the box' new control box or , completely conversely, a 3 brush dynamo with the 3rd brush adjusted well up to give about 8 amps winter charging.
The input power range for a 12 volt coil would seem to be between 8 and 15 volts, 14.4 volts being the sort of 'normal' upper output limit for an alternator from the 70s/80s and I'm going to suggest that 14.4 is probably about the upper limit a coil should be subjected to.
It's just a suggestion but if a coil is very hot, it would be worth checking the input voltage to it when running at 30/40 mph.
I realise that neither of these may be what was relevant in your circumstances but before your European journey, I thought the voltmeter might be something to think about for all it entails.
I have been thinking on and off about your ignition related queries. The question I ask myself a lot about the older car and newer technology is : Why did the old technology work for so many miles in the past yet fails today? Reading through old Freewheels there were stories of people with cars which had done well over 200,000 miles with long distance regular drives yet today stumbling from milepost to milepost is our lot with some cars.
That's the scene setting. Now for the bit that might matter. Two separate issues. Distributor failings and coil overheating.
1) In the dark, with the ignition on and the cap off the distributor, flicking the points showed flashes other than at the points. The trouble, on the DKY type distributor and it's six cylinder companion, lay in the plastic insulator for the coil lead connection through the metal loop in the baseplate and also in the insulating material which should be under the square headed bolt. These can be made new out of acetal rod and insulating sheet material. The originals are degrading with time. The same applies to the plastic saddle on the six cylinder version and even if it looks all right in the passing, one of the two securing lugs may be found to have broken.
It can also be the case that the insulating washer which should be between the base of the points and the moving part is not insulating, possibly oil soaked. There can also be discrepancies in the dimensions of these parts and, once fitted, the two contacts need to be checked to see that they are meeting each other centrally and not squint as this can lead to a short.
Of course, in fitting electronic ignition, many of these parts are removed but it is my (possibly mistaken) belief that while electronic ignition provided a cure , it is unidentified failings in the old (and sometimes new) components that are the real trouble. The failed plastic insulators I have also found in new old stock components, time not wear being the key factor.
2) Overheating coil. This may well have nothing to do with your problem but I thought it worth mentioning. I had two coils which appeared to overheat and fail. I was puzzled as to why this should happen on the one car and I should have put two and two together sooner. In an ideal world we would have on our dashboards an ammeter and a voltmeter but fortunately,with a prefitted ammeter, fitting a voltmeter is a simple matter. Our friends in the Far East make voltmeters combined with USB connections for around £5 to fit into 12v sockets. The ammeter may be showing only a few amps but the voltmeter may show 15 or 16 amps, particularly with an 'out of the box' new control box or , completely conversely, a 3 brush dynamo with the 3rd brush adjusted well up to give about 8 amps winter charging.
The input power range for a 12 volt coil would seem to be between 8 and 15 volts, 14.4 volts being the sort of 'normal' upper output limit for an alternator from the 70s/80s and I'm going to suggest that 14.4 is probably about the upper limit a coil should be subjected to.
It's just a suggestion but if a coil is very hot, it would be worth checking the input voltage to it when running at 30/40 mph.
I realise that neither of these may be what was relevant in your circumstances but before your European journey, I thought the voltmeter might be something to think about for all it entails.