Anonymous

The dreaded miss is back.

Here’s where to discuss anything specific about your standard(ish) car or something that applies to the model in general.
Stag76
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Postby Stag76 » 11 Oct 2013 09:33

Hi Phil,
I've got a spare distributor and module that came with my TR7.
It's a VR pickup type distributor that connects to a box that contains a GM 4-pin module...the same type that ignited millions of GM Vehicles over the last 20 years.

You're welcome to it.

TR7 Convertible
Sprint Motor
MegaSquirt EFI

Workshop Help
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Postby Workshop Help » 11 Oct 2013 11:28

Okay, so your ignition module has given up the ghost. That's no reason to panic. When it's time to panic, I'll issue an email.

So, if your love affair with the Lumenition is waning, why not show some interest in the sirens call of the Pertronix Ignitor. It is an entirely bolt-on unit fitting under the distributor cap with but two wires connecting to the negative terminal on the coil and the positive wire to the 12 volt side of the ballast resistor. It works and will out live the both of us.

That's the kind of long term romantic relationship we all need. Lots of spark that goes on forever.

Mildred Hargis

Hasbeen
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Postby Hasbeen » 11 Oct 2013 14:02

Thanks Bruce, but I've ordered a new one from Greg. You will appreciate, I tried to get Greg, [our local Triumph guru] to put Andrew, [his top ignition bloke] in the ute with a new Pertronix, to come down & stick it in my car.

Even though I told him Andrew needed a nice drive in the country I could not convince him. This was before the problem had been located, but I was getting rather sick of wondering, & figured a new unit was the best way to go.

It must be karma, but our national Triumph muster has been on all week, here in Queensland, making it hard to get any sense on things Triumph this week.

Mildred you will be pleased to know I have ordered one, although I don't expect to get it much before the end of next week. At least by then my knees should have stopped aching after my fuel pump work.

Leaning over a fender for too long is not something this old frame approves of these days.

Hasbeen

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Postby Workshop Help » 11 Oct 2013 17:14

Those eager minds who matriculate thru the ivy covered portals at The Universitad de Tia Mildred learn two things in their first few days.
1. Watch out for the wasp nests in the ivy, and
2. Raise the problem closer to the solution.

The reason God invented the 8" x 8" x 16" building block was to provide a lift for the Triumph so your spinal column isn't kinked over. Also, as the car has ascended higher to glory, gaining access to the coil area is that much easier.

As for levitating the car onto the blocks, instruction for that topic is provided in one's junior year.

Mildred Hargis

Hasbeen
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Postby Hasbeen » 30 Oct 2013 14:00

Well the Lumenition unit is gone, gone, gone. I found a local injection specialist, with a suitable test bed, who ran it for me, & pronounced it dying.

It would appear some air freight companies flying into Oz must have resurrected some old Super G Constellations, or even DC3s, as it took 15 days for my new ignition system to get to Oz. This was rather annoying, as a couple of bits of rusty body metal managed to get from here to Sweden in just 4 days.

I will prove it before mentioning what it is, but today it passed it's first test of 2 by 20Km runs to a nearby village & back, without fault. Tomorrow it will get a 60Km test, which, if it passes will mean it is a worthy component.

Hasbeen

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Postby DNK » 30 Oct 2013 14:44

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Hasbeen</i>


...<font size="3">It would appear some air freight companies flying into Oz must have resurrected some old Super G Constellations, or even DC3s, as it took 15 days for my new ignition system to get to Oz</font id="size3">....

Hasbeen
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

3 masted schooner?

Don
Stick a Wedge In It
80 TR7 V8 Kick in the pants
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Hasbeen
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Postby Hasbeen » 04 Nov 2013 05:36

Well after a couple of hundred kilometers with the new system, It does appear as if the Lumenition system was the problem.

I know it is easy to fool yourself about performance, but the car does seem to be going harder with the new AccuSpark system. Regardless, the car is now running smoothly & miss free, which was all I wanted anyway.

If you are fitting one, it is not as straight forward as the makers suggest, well mine wasn't. Of course who knows if my distributor was standard, or modified by the PO, who had a reputation of doing some things in rather strange ways on occasions. I have found a few strange modifications here & there.

Hasbeen

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Postby Hasbeen » 06 Nov 2013 09:45

Another 110Km today, miss free.

Now all I have to do is get someone who understands how to fix the radio noise. FM is a little effected, but AM is just noise. This last bit I'll leave to an expert.

Hasbeen

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Postby Workshop Help » 06 Nov 2013 11:16

Yes, we touched on this, the phenomena of a localized electro magnetic pulse, or E.M.P., in my article on spark plug wires a few months ago.

The solution is simple. Please, and at your most gracious convenience, install a large inline resistor on the positive wire to the radio. This 'filter' will absorb the pulses allowing you to experience the full range of enjoyment provided by the radio broadcast industry.

This entertainment fare includes pill & potion ads for E.D., (watch out for that 4 hour time limit), chronic diarrhea, and the heartbreak of pattern baldness. Then there are the agitated spots for car dealerships, furniture stores, and cell phones. Mixed lightly amongst this dreck will be melodic episodes of tunes created to induce you, the listener, to frantically push the station selector button so you can listen to some more commercials.

Ummm, what was that you were saying about wanting to clear up your reception? Did you know I have spent less than $20.00US on a MP3 player, car charger, and extra ear phones with pouch? Loaded with my choice of 250 tunes lasting over 6 hours, I don't get all figidity and anxious with the car radio on anymore. Some folks around here suspect I may be reaching a state of nirvana in my motoring experiences. Could this be a way to wean oneself from the mind control tentacles of excess consumerism?

This may call for some serious Tibetan style meditation. Please ignore any snoring you may hear, it is but an indicator of deep transcendentalism.

Mildred Hargis

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Postby Cobber » 06 Nov 2013 12:56

<font size="2"><font face="Comic Sans MS"> Expert help is here for you Hasbeen, amongst my trades and talents, I'm a telecommunications tech.

There is a fair chance that your antenna isn't up to it any more and it's making the interference worse, as you live on the rural fringe and amongst hills for best performance I suggest you bin the silly electric telescopic or manual telescopic antenna the car came with, and get a fairly long antenna @ 850mm with a spring base.
I suggest the Mobileone model M3WT listed in here:
http://www.mobileone.com.au/antennas/broadcast.html
You'll need a base, cable and spring, select the one you want from here: http://www.mobileone.com.au/antennas/cablesasses.html

They are a great company to deal with, I use them a fair bit.</font id="Comic Sans MS"></font id="size2">



"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"

80'Triumph TR7, 73'Land Rover (Ford 351. V8),
'89 Ford Fairlane
'98 MG-F, 69'Ford F250.
76' Ford F100

FI Spyder
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Postby FI Spyder » 06 Nov 2013 14:54

With this post and your other one about the tick I'm wondering about an electrical leak in your high tension system made noticeable by your new working electronic ignition.

A better aerial in fringe areas will help the interference as Cobber suggested but that's treating the symptom not the disease. You can't have too big an aerial (unless it starts hitting the trees as you drive past). I remember great big spring loaded ones where the tip hooked to the opposite end of the car and you could release it if you wanted better reception (I grew up in the sticks were the nearest station was over 80 miles away and we would even pull in Chicago, 1500 Km away, on a warm summers evening).

Your rotor and distributor cap must be up to snuff, check inside posts, cracks, tracks, dirt, corrosion that would promote electrical leakage.

Next is the high tension leads. EMP (the interference you hear on the radio) is relieved by resistance in the circuit. This can be as simple as a resistor in the circuit. I had spark plug resistors that plugged in line between the spark plugs and the solid wire spark plug wires on my '71 Javelin back in the day. Just putting in a silicone core lead from distributor to coil will not be enough as that system requires a silicone wire from coil to spark plug (via distributor) to provided enough resistance.

The current technology is metal wound wires. The metal windings inside the silicone sleeve provide a natural resistance to EMP although you don't see that much resistance to the electricity itself. The best of both worlds. The more windings per inch, the more suppression to EMP but the more expensive the kit. You can get a set for the TR7 (Lucas or Delco set ups) from Magnacor for $70. Sprint owners (with their high RPM engines) have been using these for 20 years duration and still going strong. There are a handful of manufactures that make even more sturdy sets for V-8 high horse power high heat engines in the order of over $200 to put the cost of these in perspective. They do not deteriorate with time like a carbon impregnated silicone wire.

A tapping sound caused by leaking electrical with be harder to track down with a mechanics stethoscope than a tapping mechanical mechanic sound cause by cam on fuel pump lever or cam on tappet.

Whether it's mechanical or electrical, can't tell from here but something to consider.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT
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Hasbeen
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Postby Hasbeen » 29 Nov 2013 10:36

I may have reached the end of the saga.

I got a set of those lovely new metal wound silicone plug leads, designed for a 7 yesterday. Made a massive difference to the radio, but the king lead was for a firewall mounted coil, & I needed a 700mm long one for my fender mounted coil.

How can such simple things have got to be so difficult. None of the 3 parts shops in nearby towns could help me. The 2 auto electricians assure me they can't even buy the correct cable to make me one.

Got onto a mobile bloke, who specializes in more difficult things automotive & electronic, who turned up this afternoon with a suitable length lead. It probably cost me a kings ransom, but I think I should have finally sorted the thing.

It certainly sounds great & so does the radio. Now so long as the electric pump doesn't start the SUs flooding------.

Hasbeen

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Postby FI Spyder » 29 Nov 2013 15:09

I see on Magnacor's parts catalogue they have different part numbers for strut mounted and firewall mounted coils. Most manufacturers that list a TR7 at all will have only the one part number which would be the short firewall mounted coil.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT
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