SD1 Ignition

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:32 am

Hi everyone

After installing my 3.9 back into my sd1 (had some clutch issues) I went to turn it over tonight and there is no spark at the plugs.

I took off the middle HT lead from the dizzy cap and tested that. Again no spark.

I got my volt tester and made sure there was power going to the coil.. all ok there.

ummm help? I am not sure why no spark is happening. Ive not played round with the distributor or anything and literally took the motor out and put it back in. All the wires are connected. I swapped out the coil in case it was faulty but sitll no joy..

Your help would be greatly appreciated as I have done all the tests advised in the manual

Cheers
Andy

jwriyadh · Post by **jwriyadh** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:06 am

Have you missed the cranking ignition feed from the starter solenoid?

jw

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:04 pm

Not that i am aware of. I just re-installed the solenoid and starter. If the coil has power going to it.. does this come from the solenoid or is that a different feed?

Post by **Coops** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:07 pm

cap? rotor arm???

what dizzy is it?

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:36 pm

The standard Rover Dizzy.

Checked cap.. all ok. Arm is new

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:39 pm

Does the ht lead from the coil to the dizzy carry spark or the other way around? I followed the check in the manual and it said remove the HT lead fromthe centre of the dizzy cap and hold again block. Turn it over and you will get rapid sparks.

I tried this.. no sparks!

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 9:55 pm

Andy515666 wrote:Not that i am aware of. I just re-installed the solenoid and starter. If the coil has power going to it.. does this come from the solenoid or is that a different feed?

If yours is the SD1 with the ally box with the coil bolted to it, mounted away from the motor, you can run 12v feed straight to the positive terminal of the coil, for test purposes. If you have a spark at the plugs, or if the motor starts, then it means you've missed a wire somewhere.

It won't do any harm to the coil while you're testing as there is no ballast resistor with this setup.

Alley Kat · Post by **Alley Kat** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:24 pm

Coil sends current down the king lead to the dizzy, which then distributes it to a cylinder. Hold the dizzy end of the king lead (make sure you're properly insulated from it) near (not against) the block and it should spark across the gap.
Might be worth swapping out the king lead or at least checking its resistance, if there's no spark jumping.

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:09 am

Paul B wrote:
Andy515666 wrote:Not that i am aware of. I just re-installed the solenoid and starter. If the coil has power going to it.. does this come from the solenoid or is that a different feed?
If yours is the SD1 with the ally box with the coil bolted to it, mounted away from the motor, you can run 12v feed straight to the positive terminal of the coil, for test purposes. If you have a spark at the plugs, or if the motor starts, then it means you've missed a wire somewhere.

It won't do any harm to the coil while you're testing as there is no ballast resistor with this setup.

Hi Paul. Yes it is the one with the ally box that the coil is bolted too.
wlil try the positive feed tonight rom the batt

Thank you \m/

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:10 am

Alley Kat wrote:Coil sends current down the king lead to the dizzy, which then distributes it to a cylinder. Hold the dizzy end of the king lead (make sure you're properly insulated from it) near (not against) the block and it should spark across the gap.
Might be worth swapping out the king lead or at least checking its resistance, if there's no spark jumping.

I have a spare lead so will try this before i runa wire rom the batt.
Cheers

Andy

p.s. They are not too complecated so it cant be anything too hard ot locate and fix..

Andy515666 · Post by **Andy515666** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:25 am

all good i found that after a conversation with Tony the "V8 Kid" it was an earth wire from the coil box that was not connected, now got it sorted.

She turned over first time, Must of been that new coil, dizzy cap and leads i got

Cheers Everyone

Post by **Coops** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:39 am

No worries mate,
glad its now sorted and running,

means i can get to bed earlier of a night time

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:56 pm

Andy515666 wrote:all good i found that after a conversation with Tony the "V8 Kid" it was an earth wire from the coil box that was not connected, now got it sorted.

She turned over first time, Must of been that new coil, dizzy cap and leads i got

Cheers Everyone

Have you done the conversion as shown at the top of the ignition page? I did it on mine, using the stock amplifier and coil, and just snipped off the excess garbage. Later I redid it mounting the coil and amp inside the car to keep them away from heat. I don't know if it has made any difference to performance but it has taken a few variables out of the equation.

Question: Is there any benefit to using this method, or do I need to use the uprated parts, coil, amp, to see any difference?

Here's the first edition:

Here's the second version inside the car, with the amp mounted where it is easy to get to:

Alley Kat · Post by **Alley Kat** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 5:06 pm

Paul when I put mine in (using Tony's parts, not sure it was an indentical amp though) I noticed an instant improvement in starting.
Always ran well anyway so didn't notice any other benefits (apart saving £lots over the oem amp). Didn't change anything else, it had a stock cheapo SD1 type Lucas coil, and HT leads made from Moroso stuff.

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:58 pm

Alley Kat wrote:Paul when I put mine in (using Tony's parts, not sure it was an indentical amp though) I noticed an instant improvement in starting.
Always ran well anyway so didn't notice any other benefits (apart saving £lots over the oem amp). Didn't change anything else, it had a stock cheapo SD1 type Lucas coil, and HT leads made from Moroso stuff.

My amp is a GM part, as you can see in the piccie. Is that normal Rover usage or has it been changed at some stage?

I read somewhere that it is the same unit used in Chevy HEI ignitions.