Sooty plugs all of a sudden….? Summer holiday departure imminent..
Posted: 17 Jul 2025, 16:19
You know those people you only hear from when they need something…? That appears to be me
.
2.1dj syncro rebuilt by me a few years ago with lots of help from you all and plenty of dramas along the way.
Been running like a dream for 2 or 3 years then suddenly on a trip up country stuttered a few times then started stalling. i made it back to Cornwall with lots of restarts,
changed :
dizzy cap (bit crusty but not awful)
rotor arm seemed fine
Stuttering/stalling intermittently gradually getting worse over a few hundred miles.
Tested plug wires (I’d previously put masking tape labels on) all resistances the same and in spec
King lead intermittent OL reading so changed for a spare
All plugs really sooty, swapped for 2 yr old spares
Ran beautifully, smooth and powerful for 100 miles yesterday
This morning chuffy and stalling again, I haven’t checked but for sure sooted up again
So obviously spark related and with holiday departure a few days away there won’t be time or money to source and replace coil/hall sender/ignition amplifier/etc and I really don’t want to retire good original parts and replace with possibly inferior shiny new ones so hoping someone out there maybe able to hazard a guess at which components to try first????
I’m leaning towards ignition amplifier that may just be because it seems the most economical and least invasive??
Thanks

2.1dj syncro rebuilt by me a few years ago with lots of help from you all and plenty of dramas along the way.
Been running like a dream for 2 or 3 years then suddenly on a trip up country stuttered a few times then started stalling. i made it back to Cornwall with lots of restarts,
changed :
dizzy cap (bit crusty but not awful)
rotor arm seemed fine
Stuttering/stalling intermittently gradually getting worse over a few hundred miles.
Tested plug wires (I’d previously put masking tape labels on) all resistances the same and in spec
King lead intermittent OL reading so changed for a spare
All plugs really sooty, swapped for 2 yr old spares
Ran beautifully, smooth and powerful for 100 miles yesterday
This morning chuffy and stalling again, I haven’t checked but for sure sooted up again
So obviously spark related and with holiday departure a few days away there won’t be time or money to source and replace coil/hall sender/ignition amplifier/etc and I really don’t want to retire good original parts and replace with possibly inferior shiny new ones so hoping someone out there maybe able to hazard a guess at which components to try first????
I’m leaning towards ignition amplifier that may just be because it seems the most economical and least invasive??

Thanks