Engine backfiring and won't turn over

[woksta]

Hello,
I bought a 1.9l petrol 1983 watercooled 2 years ago and it was running rough lately- it had gained a "tick" whenever the accelerator was pushed down and whenever this tick happened i could see the HT lead to the ignition coil was arcing with the contacts of the coil itself. Because of this, i decided to buy new plugs, leads and distro cap. During replacement, i saw a lump of copper about an inch long and quarter inch wide inside the ignition coil where the HT lead would normally make contact so i removed this and put in the lead. Since i replaced everything, all the van will do is breifly tick over, backfire hard and then shut off. I have tested the ig coil and the ohm levels seem okay which i thought to be the initial culprit. I'm stumped as to what else it could be
Any help would be mighty appreciated

[BOXY]

Leads on the wrong plugs.

[woksta]

Cheers, I'll have a gander in the morning. Oh and how do i know which lead goes where? they all look identical to me
As you can probably tell i'm quite new to all this

[BOXY]

Have a look in the wiki. I can't link you to the right section as I'm on my phone.

[kevtherev]

1-4-3-2

[woksta]

Cheers guys, looks like you're right- i think i got 1 and 2 all mixed up

[what2do]

1-4-3-2

I could do with that tattooed somewhere as I can never remember it.

[itchyfeet]

Next time you lift the hatch take a permanent marker and write on the dizzy cap 1, 4, 3, 2
Then write on the heads or hatch/engine compartment the cylinder pattern as above.

[what2do]

Next time you lift the hatch take a permanent marker and write on the dizzy cap 1, 4, 3, 2
Then write on the heads or hatch/engine compartment the cylinder pattern as above.

To be honest, as long as you remember this stuff I'll be alright

[ghost123uk]

During replacement, i saw a lump of copper about an inch long and quarter inch wide inside the ignition coil where the HT lead would normally make contact so i removed this

There are 2 types of connector, one has a "lump of copper about an inch long and quarter inch wide" inside and this slides into a receptacle in the lead. The other (earlier) type has a "C" shaped springy copper sleeve at the coil and dizzy ends. I am wondering if maybe you either have the wrong leads or simply shouldn't have removed that pin thing. Plus of course it does sound like you have the leads on the wrong way round. For future reference, it is better to do one at a time, that way you can't really get it wrong.

[woksta]

Yep, cheers guys it was the goddamned leads being the wrong way round. Still sounds pretty rough but actually driveable now, might go get an expert opinion on the knocking noise once i've scraped up the funds

[woksta]

There are 2 types of connector, one has a "lump of copper about an inch long and quarter inch wide" inside and this slides into a receptacle in the lead. The other (earlier) type has a "C" shaped springy copper sleeve at the coil and dizzy ends. I am wondering if maybe you either have the wrong leads or simply shouldn't have removed that pin thing. Plus of course it does sound like you have the leads on the wrong way round. For future reference, it is better to do one at a time, that way you can't really get it wrong.

I think whoever had the van before me bodged that copper in there, the new leads look exactly like the old ones and the one going into the ig coil fits snugly and works- still a bit unnerving though, found a whole lot of brown filth inside when i disconnected the plug. Could actually be a source of its rough running but i would have no idea how to get the cap off to clean it :s