No spark!

[Lester]

Hi all,
Been a while since I've posted. It's been a busy summer.
Now, I'm not getting any spark in my S3. It just cranks and cranks. I was wondering if any of you have the Crane cams XR700 electronic ignition. It was put in by a PO. The light on it no longer comes on. I did reverse the polarity of the battery and then the coil.
I had it running before I tried this and fairly well. Is it possible I damaged the ignition by reversing the polarity? Should I just throw it away and go back to points. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Nickodell]

Any solid state device is liable to get fried if you reverse the polarity, so yours is probably toast. I did the same thing with an early Mallory "points eliminator" device that fitted into the standard distributor in my TransAm in place of the points and rotor. Lasted all of 1/200 second after I wired it up [backwards]. What the hell, it's only money.

 

[Lester]

Makes sense to me. So what does everyone else use? Stock equipment?
many thanks

 

[serIIalpine]

Pertronix electronic ign with a pertronix epoxy filled 3ohm coil no ballast resistor is what's in my serII.

SS has them.

Careful with the wires on install. I pinched one and the car ran like poo poo so I put some shrink tubing on my leads and it runs like a champ.

Eric

'62 SerII

 

[Lester]

Thanks for the reply...What about stock-style condensors and points. I see they are available. Are they any good? I just do know if I want to invest in a replacement electronic system. Any thoughts?
thanks again, lester

 

[mikephillips]

In 30 some years of running British cars I've never personally had any real problems with a points ignition. I would however recommend carrying an extra condensor in the car though. They can last forever or die quickly. I've only had that happen twice in all those years but better to have a handy replacement.

 

[Wombat]

Stock points work well enough, but you have to clean and adjust them and then reset the ignition timing periodically. As mike says, the condensor can fail. When that happens the points run hot and melt the plastic rubbing block which throws timing way out. I agree that carrying a spare condensor and set of points is a good idea. You can fix this on the side of the road.

Electronic ignition is a set and forget thing. It may also give you a better spark, but I don't know if the diference would be noticeable from behind the wheel.

 

[mikephillips]

When I've had a condensor fail it's acted more like a dead short with no spark rather than burning up the other components.

 

[Lester]

I think I'll put stock equipment back in there...give that a go. Thanks for all of your input. If I do buy another electronic ignition, I'll wait until I know what is going on with my car first.
Many thanks, Lester