MGB & GT Forum

Well, I knew it would happen. First breakdown with my B. Waiting for me son to bring the truck to tow me home

Sorry to hear that, but maybe it can be sorted easily roadside if you let us know what the problem is.

been there,,done that!! On more than one occasion! Hope it's nothing serious and you will be back on the road soon

Thank you All!

Ok - got it home, but can't seem to nail it down...

It started a little rough - I thought it was missing so I pulled over to check my spark plug wires were tight ( I had pulled the wire off from the cap to the plug last night and wondered if I had it tight.) It checked out.

Continued driving. Still running like it was missing or rough.

Got to speed - 50 mph and then is quit running - - I put it neutral and coasted to a safe spot to stop.

Tried starting and it was acting like no spark. A friend who is very knowledgable in the LBC world stopped to help. We checked wires and then pulled a plug to see if it had spark and nothing.

Towed it home. Still no spark.

We put a voltage meter on and had 12 volts at the coil, but we seem to be losing power between the coil and spark plugs. I had a new condenser so we put it on to see if it would help, but no spark still.

It's a new distributor cap and it seems fine.

So, we're at a loss as of now, power from coil to distributor - nothing getting to plugs.

Any thoughts out there?

Thanks!

Hey, Roger-

Great to hear from you. I hope you're doing well. We miss you here!

Dave

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Dave

x2

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1952 MGTD 15539
1971 MGB GHN5UB237226

The coil has failed.

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Be safe out there.
Kenny

Oh, I forgot to mention I replaced the coil as well... .Thanks for the reminder Kenny!

OK then, check the distributor wire going to the coil. Make sure it is fully seated. Also check the graphite pin on the inside center of the cap. It has a small spring in it and the pin can wear over time. It's the piece that touches the rotor arm.

Also, are you hearing the fuel pump click when you turn the ignition key on?

David

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74 Damask Red BGT
Davesmg@outlook.com

Does the tach needle move whilst cranking?

I'm going to dig into it after work today. I will be picking up some new wires to install.

Will update later today.

Thanks!

Replace the rotor. If that doesn't fix it replace the condensor. Been down this road a few times.

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Si Vis pacem, para bellum

sounds like you are in the right neighborhood. i rebuilt the carbs 4 times one summer and it didn't fix a broken coil. once i replaced the coil....

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Jim H. is a grease-stained wretch, too.

I know I'm just new to all this, only having my B snce November last year ...
but for what it is worth, I had similar experiance this summer and after much perusing of the forum came to realize it was my points not opening.
Adjusted the gap and was back on the road.

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I saw this beautiful girl today
And yes she took my heart away
My old Lydia Oh Lydia
Oh Oh Oh

~Jonathan Richman