howdy list, My acty is actin' up. It's always had a bit of a rough idle, very occasionally stalling out even. About two weeks ago, I was driving in the neighborhood and the engine shut off. Electrical stayed fine, I pulled over, and it started right up again. A few days later, I was driving on the highway and it happened again. I rolled off an exit and parked, but this time it would not start again. It would turn over, but would not spark. While it was there I tried to figure out what was wrong: changed spark plugs checked battery (it's fine) pulled of distributor cap, and while it was a little gnarly, it seemed pretty much fine. air filter was old-ish but also fine then bought a spark plug tester to see if it was sparking at all, and found it was not. Pulled out the ignition coil, and tested with an ohmmeter, seemed fine. ~1.5ohms on the primary and about ~14K on the secondary. Pulled off the condenser (which is actually a capacitor?) and it measured out just fine, too. I'm not sure how to test this further. I got it towed back to my house, and when it came down off the flatbed the dang thing started up! It fired up just fine about 6 times in a row. I let it run for a while, and was getting a good bit of white smoke, but it seemed like pretty thin smoke, and eventually it settled down (I have seafoam in a full tank of gas, and some in the oil tank too, not surprised by a little extra exhaust right now). I drove it around the block a few times, but then it died again. Rolled down a big hill and parked it, it started up again. Went about a block and it died again. Started up, died, started up, died, and now sitting in driveway, it once again will not start. I bought a tune up kit (distro cap, rotor, spark plug leads) and a new fuel filter from minitruck.ca. Installed the fuel filter just because, but have not replaced the other parts yet. I opened up the panel underneath my steering wheel to check out the ignition components, and found nothing immediately weird, and nothing I could wiggle around and get it to start. My gut says there's a short somewhere in the ignition path before the coil. I noticed that my battery had drained a bit while sitting across town, and my clock had stopped at some point. This very well could have been from trying to start it over and over, but it did seem to drain some on its own. I haven't checked for current flow with everything turned off, yet, but I will. Now, anyone have any ideas? I haven't checked the ignition control module yet, mostly because I haven't figured out how to open up all the panels in the dash (the info is not in my Danko manual). Is there a way I can test my coil to be more positive it's not out? Has anyone run into anything like this before? Thanks! Chris
Reminds me of the trouble we have sometimes with old BMWs like my E32 750 V12, which has 2 fusible links which get haircracks and depending on temperature these haircracks sometimes are still working and sometimes not. The fusible links not only in my BMW but in all cars are located close to the battery. I can only tell you details from my BMW. Details with pics are on my website under reference data>>electrical, there is a pdf with pics FUSIBLE LINKS A & B IN E32 : Fusible Link A is 50 Amps. It feeds only DME loads. Fusible A is under the heatshrink. Fusible B is 80 Amps. It feeds all the Rear Power Box loads Fusible link B is located behind the battery in the black plastic box with closed cover http://twrite.org/shogunnew/topmenu.html All cars have fusible links, the older ones like my 1988 BMW have the socalled blade fuses http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/377728/ here I have a pic of one with a haircrack http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/377948 Now the question where is it on our Acty? Searched a bit and here we have the pics, 45 amp fuse , copper wire main fuse https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/alternator-or-electrical-problems.14775/ I would check the fusible link first for haircracks, that is typical for a problem with these fuses, sometimes work, sometimes not.
hi shogun, thanks for the tip! I went out, wiggled that fuse around a bit, poked at the obviously corroded and weak looking copper, and my car started right up. drove it down the block, it died, and the fuse measured open. Poked it around again, started up, drove it home, then went and got a new fuse. I installed it, the car started up just fine, so I started putting everything back together. I put the cover over the battery, and put the plastic cover back on the carb, which included disconnecting and reconnecting a few hoses. Now, the thing will not start again. New fuse measures closed, and certainly seems fine. I decided to measure the current draw of my battery with everything turned off, to see if there was a short somewhere. I had 4.5mA with everything turned off, which means there is the equivalent of a 2.8K resistor from the positive terminal to ground, somewhere in the vehicle. Now, I don't know if this is at all normal, but I figured not. I started pulling fuses to see who was drawing that current, and it turned out to be the interior lights. My brother who was working with me went and wiggled a lightswitch in the back of the van, and the current reading jumped around and settled at 0.8mA. I believe this was the fuse in my meter blowing, hehe. But with that interior light fuse pulled, the van will still not start. It's turning over, but no spark. The battery is dying pretty fast while trying to start, too, even after a couple jumps and probably 10ish minutes of charging each time. I'm pretty stumped here. There are a few guys in town who say they work on these cars, but I'm concerned they'll spend a few days doing everything I have and get to the same stumped position!
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/6-symptoms-of-ignition-coil-failure My van has definitely shown every one of these symptoms except for backfire, pretty much for the whole time I've had it. Very rough idle, especially with AC or turns signals on, some very occasional stalling, hesitation and misfires (though I'm not exactly sure what a misfire is). So I am definitely wondering, how can I test my ignition coil besides just an ohm meter? What I'm seeing on various sites is that a coil might test fine cold, but open up or short out or otherwise fail while hot.
Again, from my experience with old BMW some pics of damaged ignition coils and what these can cause in damage, check the ignition coils from outside for damage, see the pics here https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/...pens-when-a-coil-dies&highlight=ignition+coil After so many years of operation it might be a good idea just to install a new one. I have a inline spark tester and there I can see the sparks . Normally the engine runs really smooth on my car. Hope you find the cause of the electric problem, let us know.
While not one to throw parts at a problem, I have seen exactly what you have going on from a bad coil. You check and check, everything is good and it starts and runs for awhile then stops. Very inconsistent. I would install a known good coil and see if the problem goes away. Most any 12 volt coil from an engine with a distributor will work.
just writing to say I got it running, finally. It was the ignition module (bought a Wells equivalent on Amazon for $80...), and possibly also the ignition coil (TC-03A), which I found on ebay for $20. She's running just as rough and goofy as ever, but starts every time Thanks for everyone's help!
Thanks for the feedback. Rough running: any black smoke from the exhaust? = unburnt fuel. In such case check the 2 solenoids at the carb. Maybe you also change the distributor.
Maybe off topic but I have a Cushman utility with a daihatsu 3 cylinder 27 HP. No spark, my question is should I have 12 v to the coil when key is on? I have power to coil,only has power when cranking. The wire diagram I have is not helping. The plug in on back has 3 wires. 2 show power when cranking one is dead in any key position. Thanks in advance.
Most like likely bad ignition switch. You should have 12 volt to coil at all times when cranking and running. Not sure what plug you are taking about. Coil normally has a positive and a negative and is grounded. On a points system the negative will go on and off as the points open and close. Positive needs power whenever you want it to run.
Yes, the info from Oldtractorfixer points into the direction of a bad ignition switch. Did a google search, Cushman parts you can get here, also ignition switches , 4 different types http://directparts.com/
