No No It can not be . . .

Had not touched the ignition other than checking plugs and cleaning them yearly just because, since I got the car....some 6 years back. It started to miss a bit under load so I decided to do an ignition tune up (once spousal unit OKed the $)

I replaced: plugs, cap, rotor & wires
the coil with a Pertronix
and the points with a Pertronix Igniter II

Put it all in and the car ran great
checked the timing and it was solid and just where it should be

took car out for a test ride

after about 30 minutes the electric tach starts to have an occasional bounce at idle .... as I head for home the bounce turns into an audible miss and more frequent altho a random pattern - at idle. And then gets to the point it happens all thru the rpm range.

Now, as soon as the car reaches normal temp the same happens... random miss, but at least once every 30 seconds.

When I hang the timing light the signal is no longer solid but seems to bounce in a 4 degree range

I'm thinking I got a lemon from Pert' but if anyone has another idea b4 I start talking to them I'm listening

a 1275, with the 45D dizzy .... I took the timing up 2 and down 2 deg with no change. The new plugs show nothing unusual. I'm gonna call Pert' soon since my next step would have been to change the points again. . .

any other ideas????

 

You might do a simple check to make sure that the pertronics parts are still mounted correctly inside the distributor. After I bought my Mini (which had Pertronics installed) I took it to an old-school (read: carb specialist) tuner. The mech found that the Pertronics hardware inside the distributor had become dislodged. Once he remounted it the system worked as expected.

It's an easy thing to check I guess.

Jeff

 

took everything out and remounted it with no change

that's what I tried first

thanks

 

I'd call Pertronix and see what they suggest....

I've had their system in my E-Type for over 20 years, still works perfectly.....

 

spent an hour on the phone with them yesterday then 3 hours on the car with no good result.

Anyone else have the Ignitor II??? I'm thinking of asking them to swap me the older version.

 

Some of these require a ballasted coil and some want full 12volts.....

 

good thoughts

the II says remove the ballast coil if you have one

and 12v was one of the checks they recommended yesterday. I in fact have better than 12 volts on the red wire and just to be sure ran a by-pass from the battery to the red wire for a test with no joy.

They also say the ground is sometime a problem so I cleaned all contact points with wire brush - no joy. Then ran a seperate ground wire from the dizzy body to a good ground point - no joy. Actually the more I play with it the more the thing misses.

I discovered today that the price delta between the ign' II for a 45D, and a complete replacement 45D from Pert' with Ignitor II and III in there already is $70. I'm on hold trying to see if they will credit me and allow me to step up.....

 

Just one crazy thought. My old Spridget acted sorta like this once and we found that the engine ground wire was no good and that the engine was poorly grounded. The connectors went to a point that was badly rusted.

Just a thought.

 

thanks and a good thought

when I first got the car that was a problem . . . I had a poor ground and the car was hard to start. The car actually starts better now . . . but the longer I've played with it the worse the miss has gotten. Pert' has agreed to replace the unit I have but I also discovered that had I gone to them vs a Mini Parts Guy, I could have gotten a complete 45D repacement dizzy with Ignitor II and III already installed for $70 more . . . .

Working with Pert to trade in the Ig II for credit on a dizzy.

Wish me luck

 

well it took a little while, and will take a little while longer as they don't have the dizzy in stock but Pert' agreed to let me return the Ignitor at their web price and apply that to purchase of their complete dizzy.

Case pends . . . but I will say that Pert' has been very helpful and willing to find a solution. Good company - their phone system stinks (it takes 3 or 4 tries to make it thru their auto answer system which likes to drop calls) but the people are very helpful once you finally get to them.

 

You need one of these....................



Its the best thing since sliced bread..............

http://www.rob-beere-racing.co.uk/ignition.html

 

that's what I heard about the Ignitor . . .

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1PFb46gKlc

watch this and then decide............

 

seen it ...

other factors in the equation tho . . .

 

????

what is it your looking for .............a mini that runs without a hitch then you need a BINI.................

 

If by BINI you mean a MINI vs a Mini

check my sig . . . I was a 'plankowner' as we call it in the nautical world and have come back for a second round.

My B' starts every day and runs smooth . . . not someting I can say for my 79

btw ... let us look at the symptoms ....

doesn't it look more like a COIL problem????

 

I have a '69 MGB - installed a Pertronix unit with Pertronix coil 5 years ago - great upgrade over the stock points etc. I'm actually using the old distributor from my dear departed '71 Mini as a replacement for the MGB's worn out original. It's a Lucas 25D, very much like your 45D.

I had similar issues to yours early on with the Pertronix in my "B" - great at first, missing and generally poor running after several hundred miles of use.

After much troubleshooting, I found that the 2 wires that connect the Pertronix unit inside the distributor (under the cap) had insufficient slack as installed, and had been rubbing against the spinning distributor shaft in some conditions, ie. when the vacuum advance was at full rotation. The wire insulation had rubbed through at the point of contact. Very hard to see, but there if I looked closely. The lack of insulation at this tiny spot caused the unit to short out momentarily at certain times and work OK at some other times.

I solved the problem by getting some very thin lightweight shrink tube and re-insulating the wires inside the distributor. I also made sure that there was enough "slack" in the wires inside the distributor so that the problem doesn't re-occur. It's very easy to accidentally pull the wires outside the distributor, through the rubber grommet, thereby tensioning the wires too much and allowing them to come into contact with the shaft inside, under the cap.

Five years since my fix and running perfectly. I also installed some NGK Iridium plugs (overkill on a '69 MGB - they were on sale) and a very good quality set of plug wires at the same time as the Pertronix gear. I have had NO ignition issues in those 5 years and approx. 30 - 40 thousand miles. How many British car owners can say that??!!

Good luck with you MINI.


_________________________________________________

 

new dizzy appeared on the front steps today

they estimated 2 weeks ... it was two weeks and a day

I'm gonna let it cool tho

spousal unit are going on a weekend romp this weekend

 

Boy do I feel dumb . . .

I need to heed my own advice:

When you are sure everything is right and the program still doesn't work something you are sure of is wrong.

I got the new dizzy and went to swap it today. I pulled the existing one and set it on the table next to the new.

HEY, the shaft is totaly different....they sent me the wrong one.

Nooooooooo - some time in the past I looked at pictures of the various dizzy' and having been TOLD my engine was an A series (no way is that an A+ - there is no number on it but I know it is a replacement) and I kinda sorta looked for identifying marks, I thought I had a 45D

IT IS A 59D which means it is probably a Metro A+ engine - which is what the seller told me it was but other 'experts' have told me that was wrong...

ARGGGGGGGGG

No wonder the IGNITOR didn't fit well - how the heck did I get it to work at all? I just hope Pertronix is as nice on return number two . . . .

 

it will be ok captain. I was giving wrong info about the year on my car then I found out it is a different year. close to the one I thought but still wrong. Then someone told me something else. these cars can be confusing sometimes. different engines, with different parts can make things hard.

 

SITREP

The gang at Pertronix is being SO patient with this dummy. They don't made a 59D dizzy so they will take the 45 back. They DO make an Ignitor for the 59D which they are sending out.

I sure hope this brings closure!

 

So, did it work?

We can only hold our collectivve breath so long!

 

take a breath and wait

I'm still waiting for a call/e-mail from Pertronix. We had a plan of action but they were to contact me back and I'm waiting.....

Worst case I'll hold their 45D dizzy and put it up for sale on here, then e-bay and buy a 123 . . . who does make what they call a Mini A+ distributor. Of course by that time I'll have increased a $50 job (points, condesor and beer) to $429.00

Pertronix has an insert for my 59D but I suspect availability is what's holding up a reply.

Sooooooo - if you want a 45D Lucas (which is a plug and play replacement for a 25) WITH the Ignitor already there - new rotor .... new cap - at $50 off list you can contact me at the number at the bottom of your screen......

p.s. .... just found this out in the last 15 minutes.

A sure fire tell-tale as to the block being an A+:

The Dizzy hold down on an A+ is a plate that wraps around the dizzy over a flange and attaches to the block with 1 bolt .... one bolt into the block to hold the dizzy equals A+ .....

Sometimes it takes me so long to learn .... actually it takes me so long to learn the questions to ask. When I ask the right questions the answers always pop right up . . .

Footnote - additional way to tell the block is an A+: The dipstick fits directly into a hole in the block .... there is no tube for the dipstick that connects to the block; the dipstick sits flush to the block.

When I bought the car the seller told me it was an A+ block. Over the 5 years I've owned it I've been convinced it was not an A+ because several 'experts' told me the information I was given was wrong. Silly me I believed them. I forgot a basic rule that was driven into my head on the way to having Command at sea: trust, but verify.

 

After a one hour test drive I think I can say YES - IT WORKS

Two months to the day since this saga began I finally have a running car again!!!! It starts immediately and runs stronger than at any time since I bought the car. That's not just the IGNITOR certainly but a Flamethrower coil, plugs, wires, rotor and cap all add up.

Lessons learned:

* be sure you order the right part. If you are sure you are ordering the right part, double check anyway.

* when the part does not seem to fit right something is probably wrong. Poor fit is seldom built in. SOMETIMES it is, but it should be a warning.

* "Experts" often aren't. Trust but verify was a rule of Command that I need to remember even in retirement. I now KNOW that I have an A+ block and how to identify one.

* when you are sure everything is right and the program still doesn't work, something you are sure of is wrong.


So here's a quiz question (no I do not know the aswer): according to the Haynes, as I read it, no Mini came with an A+ 1275 - at least pre SPi/MPi. I base this on the fact the only listings for a 59D dizzy with pre-electronic ignition were the 1000 and smaller. I was told my block came from a Metro. Does this make sense and does anyone have a reference? BTW my block has no number plate on it . . . that's the way it came to me.