my first breakdown

[Rincewind]

well i've just had my first tow home

now in the aftermath i'm sat looking at what could be wrong

the van ran, on petrol (its had a LPG conversion a couple of months ago and carb rebuild and its due its tune up...), back fired twice and died on me.

it'll turn over but won't fire up, it won't do it on LPG either.

it did then start again, drove for 300yrds, back fired twice and died once again

it now smells really pertrolly from the outside of the van, but i can't say i noticed it on the roadside.


it had new plugs, leads, rotor arm, dizzy cap when i bought it 6months ago and has behaved without fault up to now.

its a 2.0 CU Aircooled, with a blue spot (DG?) distributor

so folks, where do i start when it gets light??

[steve8090]

Firstly check for a spark, it is more than likely the coil, then check both carburettors at the bottom of the manifolds, make sure that none of the pipes are off, on the left carb there are two core plugs, make sure they are both in, give me a ring if you need telephone assistance.

[Rincewind]

thanks steve

will check them in the morning


couldn't see anything arye in the engine bay like petrol floating around

but will look more when its lighter in the morning

[VWCamperfan]

Might be worth checking the hall sensor in the dizzy. Sounds classic symptoms for that packing up but check other areas first.

[fullsunian]

Sorry to hear that mate...
Sounds like something to do with ignition to me, have a good look at dizzy cap, rotor and leads.....
IAN

[Rincewind]

so what does a hall sensor look like?

just so i know what i'm looking for when i start pulling bits apart

and where would i source one from?

[helga592]

Your first breakdown so sorry you must be lucy my first breakdown happend 6mins after buying the van lucly it happend just over half a mile from home. Quick tip:-If you take the van to europe make sure you get the right sort of recivery insurance not the chepest! this is a mistake we made

[Rincewind]

right folks, i have a new coil in my hands from Leeds GSF

my question is, i believe the coil that is currently attached to the van says FORD on it....

how do i know what is the positive side and negative side? its labelled on the new one, but as the van isn't in front of me for a couple of hours, how can i identify which is what terminal on the current one

[fullsunian]

so what does a hall sensor look like?

just so i know what i'm looking for when i start pulling bits apart

and where would i source one from?

You have pm....

[weldore]

hope you sort it mate

[Rincewind]

well the ford coil isn't labelled positive / negative

i have one lead that comes off one side which disappears off into the wiring loom


the other side is 3 cables of which 2 split off one onto each choke on the carbs, the other into the loom

any ideas which side is positive and which negative??

haynes is no use

help!!!!!!

[weldore]

take one of them off and turn the ignition on and see if it has power to it with a multimeter or a bulb with 2 wires on it one on the connection and one on the body ..if not it must be the other



















i think

[waltraud]

Hi the side with the connections to the carb chokes will be positive, the chokes need 12v positive connection to function if they are 2ltr air cooled standard solex carbs. SO....i would personally use a 12v test light or multimeter etc to check which side is 12v but i would be 99% sure that the side of the coild with connections to chokes is +ve..........thats as long as you are clear that they are the chokes....good luck. Be methodical and work on each suspected fault at a time. Tim

[Rincewind]

ok new coil fitted, thankyou for all your help
put on new HT lead for good measure as well

road tested, no difference i'm afraid... however no backfire this time!!

i'll try new dizzy cap and rotor arm tomorrow, see where that gets me....

though having had it off, can't see anything obviously wrong. but worth the try i guess

[ermie571]

Rincewind,

I had sommat similar with mine - backfiring and no power. Turned out we hadn't pushed the rotor arm all the way home, and the cap was wobbly. Was very embarrasing when after we had changed ignition unit and coil and leads from other van with no joy for Mr AA to lean in the engine compartment, thump the rotor arm and wave us on our way

Thing is, it had driven for a while before the trouble started. Would of thought that it would have been bad straight away. make sure the cap is solid, and not moving when the engine is running.

Hope its sommat simple, mate. Also, make sure your leads are on the right plugs....

Em
x