Then I broke down (74 mini mild refurb)

Started by 94touring, May 26, 2015, 11:33:03 PM

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94touring

Was feeling good about redoing some seats on the mini.  Weather was great and took a drive.  7 blocks from the condo and the car shut off as I was coming to a light.  Had enough momentum to swing into a drive.  Verified the usual suspects and found I had no spark.  Got the other car and made the drive across town to steal a coil.  Hooked up the coil and fired right up.  Sweet.  No sooner as I secure the other car to drive the mini, it dies.  Fried the new coil.  Still scratching my head, but hopefully it just didn't like the ballast style coil and the right coil will work just fine.  Now to order 2 new coils. :-[

94touring


94touring


Jims5543

I have only broken down once in a car before owning my Mini.

It sucks I feel your pain.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring

The excitement of mini ownership.  I need to see if I can get a coil that will work otherwise I'm going to have to aaa this thing.  I had planned to freshen up the dizzy and coil anyways, wishing I would have sooner now. 

MiniDave

What is it with these cars and coils? I had a friend with a similar problem, after finding he had electronic ign, he replaced his coil and all is good again. I also had to replace Buzz's coil - now I carry a spare on road trips.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

I made a post on MM looking for some answers.  I really need to find a condenser to test out.

Have a true 74 998cc mini. It sat for years, I acquired it, got it running and it's been doing great till last night. Driving home it shut off instantly as I was coming to a stop. Pull over, check fuel, check ignition. No spark. Get my other car, drive across town and get a coil from my other mini. Plug it in and it fires right up. A few minutes later it dies. Has a lumpy idle for a few moments before it totally shuts off. Coil is excessively hot. Thought maybe it didn't like a later year coil. Today grabbed another coil, actually have about 4 old ones sitting around and a new one I grabbed from the autozone for the heck of it. Nothing got it to fire up. Took the original coil and the coil I borrowed from the other mini and they both work on the other mini. I thought surely I fried both of them but apparently not. So, opened up the dizzy, looks like a 25d. The cap, rotor, and points all look practically brand new. No wear or corrosion, I was actually surprised at their condition. The condenser I would assume is new, but I'm wondering if that's my culprit. I don't have any to swap out and not sure if there is something locally that I can use as an alternate. I'm confused at why when I put in the 2nd coil it fired up and ran great, albeit for only a few minutes. What else can I be looking for here?

MiniDave

I had a similar thing happen with Buzz, new condenser fixed it and I haven't had to change it since - probably 3K miles now.

Where is the car now, still in OK? I get parts locally from Victoria British here in Lenexa.

I would think pretty much any 12V condenser that fits would work in a pinch.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Yeah in Tulsa.  Just tried a random condenser from the pep boys.  Didn't work.  I have power to the coil for sure though. 

MiniDave

#9
OK, you need several things for the ignition to work, one of which is a good ground - there should be a fine ground strap between the base plate and the body of the distributor - sometimes those break and can cause an intermittent ground. You also need a good ground between the engine and the chassis or body of the car.

If that looks OK, start from scratch - do you have 12V to the + side of the coil?
12V on the - side of the coil when the points are open?
12V to the points?
Are the points breaking? Are the points grounded?
If all that is good, is there a good rotor?
Is the button still in the top of the dist. cap?

If all that's good and the points are adjusted correctly, it should get spark to the plugs, and if that's good it should run.

Good luck Jim, and should you or any of your IM team be caught, the secretary will disavow all knowledge.  ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

Well just got back from screwing with it.  I checked a few other things, including the actual gap on the points.  They were never opening.  Duh  :-[  Back on the road. 

MiniDave

Ah H A!

I'm always glad when it turns out to be something simple.    4.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

94touring

It's still acting up.  Didn't fire up yesterday morning, opened up the dizzy, checked everything again, and fired up.  This morning it was dead again. 

MtyMous

Not sure if you're at this point yet, but I do have a nearly new 123 Dizzy for sale. It has like 200 miles on it. A+ model with vac adv.

94touring

Well I said to hell with this and bought an electronic 25d from minispares.  For the price it seems hard to beat.  Is your 123 for a or a+?

94touring

Err nvm I didn't read lol

Jims5543

Having owned and Daily driving 60's Mustangs, as soon as I realized these Mini's had points / condensers my first order of business was to get that off and get a 123 on.

It was my very first mod to my Mini.

When I had my 1980 Porsche with a 1990 motor in it, I was amazed Porsche was still running dizzies in the late 80's early 90's.  A pedigree company like them and my 1987 Mazda RX7 was more technologically  advanced than a 1990 Porsche.

My 911 had duel plugs, so it had 2 dizzies 12 spark plugs and this little baby timing belt that ran from one dizzy to the other to keep them synced up. That belt was prone to breaking so you had to keep a a spare in your glove box. As I said I was amazed how un-technological they were.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring

This electronic 25d was only  $100.  The conversion kit was the same price.  I think I can even toss the points and condenser back in if I manage to fry the module. 

MtyMous

Sorry. I missed your question, but yeah. Your option is definitely the less expensive one. If you do find a need for it, let me know. I'm not letting this one go for dirt cheap like most of my parts. Of course I can be persuaded to make deals for friends. Lol

94touring

I like the 123 on the maroon car a lot.  I can only think of one other mini I've owned, and I've owned a lot,  where I had to fiddle with points and bad condensers.  I was happy to see an affordable solution.  I just don't feel like chasing a 3 dollar problem around that I can't pinpoint. 

94touring

That was a PITA.  Finally got the old dizzy out.  Thought I forgot how to do it the bastard was so stuck.  All new ignition components installed, fired right up.  Hopefully this solves my problem. 

Mudhen

That's such a nice looking car...

Please keep the hood closed.

:(

I think I used to say that same thing about a girl I dated in high school, actually.   :-X

Hope you solved it!

MiniDave

Let me put my college automotive Professor's hat on for a moment......

People, a claw hammer is used to drive and pull nails, it is not to be used on cars. The proper hammer to use on a car is a ball peen hammer!

One of these.....

Keep your claw hammers away from the car and in the wood working shed where it belongs.
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Mudhen

Quote from: MiniDave on June 09, 2015, 07:56:54 AM
Let me put my college automotive Professor's hat on for a moment......

People, a claw hammer is used to drive and pull nails, it is not to be used on cars. The proper hammer to use on a car is a ball peen hammer!

One of these.....

Keep your claw hammers away from the car and in the wood working shed where it belongs.

Tough to slide that ball peen hammer in a small space to pry something out...and better to use the claw of a claw hammer that is a prying tool than to do it with a screwdriver, which I'm sure you'll complain isn't a prying tool.  Now put that hat away!   19.gif

94touring